- Date
- August 16, 1991, 14:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pagosa Springs, CO
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N80RSCessna 421B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 3, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910816044479A
- Case key
- 18139
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Inadequate preflight of the aircraft by the pilot in command. A factor was: failure of the pilot in command to properly latch the cargo door.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During takeoff roll, the nose compartment cargo door came open and the pilot aborted the takeoff. The aircraft exited the end of the runway and collided with a ditch.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80RS
- Reported as
- Cessna 421B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 421B-0895
- Engine
- Continental GTSIO-520-H, 375 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Ralph Lowry Aircraft, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Ralph Lowry Aircraft, Inc.
- Destination
- 1CT · Wichita, KS
- Airport
- 2V1 · Stevens Field, runway 19, 5,600 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 62
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 10,083 total · 278 in this make and model · 10,830 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.