FTW02FA262

In dark night visual conditions, the airplane impacted the heavily wooded mountainous terrain, at an elevation of 11,100 feet. On the morning of the accident flight, the private pilot and flight instructor purchased the airplane through an aviation brokerage company. Due to the some unexpected financing problems, the flight instructor and private pilot, who was receiving a checkout flight, departed the airport approximately 4.5 hours later than originally planned. While at an intermediate fuel stop, one of the pilots obtained an updated weather briefing from a flight service station. Shortly after departure from the airport, the pilots requested flight following from air traffic control to their planned destination. The last radar contact with the accident airplane was approximately 45 minutes after departure, at an altitude of 10,700 feet. The wreckage energy path measured approximately 75 feet in length on a measured magnetic heading of 060 degrees. The airplane came to rest upright on a estimated 60-degree slope, and the fuselage displayed forward to aft accordion type crush damage. During the examination of the wreckage, no aircraft or engine anomalies were noted that would have prevented normal operations.

History of flight

On September 23, 2002, approximately 2015 mountain daylight time (all times are mountain daylight time unless otherwise noted), a Piper PA-28R-200 single-engine airplane, N6227J, was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain during cruise flight near Chromo, Colorado. The flight instructor and instrument-rated private pilot, who was receiving instruction, sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by Melcarl Aviation Company of Parker, Colorado. Dark night visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The cross-country flight departed the Fullerton Municipal Airport, Fullerton, California, approximately 1345 pacific daylight time (PDT), with planned fuel stops at Prescott, Arizona, and Farmington, New Mexico, and was destined for the Centennial Airport (APA), Denver, Colorado.

In a telephone interview conducted by the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC), the owner of Gerdes Aviation Services (an aviation brokerage company, in Fullerton, California) stated on the afternoon of September 22, 2002, he picked up the flight instructor and private pilot from the Ontario International Airport, Ontario, California. The two pilots, who were the president and vice president of Melcarl Aviation Company, had flown on a commercial flight from Denver to Ontario. The pilots checked into their hotel, and then the three of them went to the airport to inspect the Piper airplane. The flight instructor, who was also an airframe and powerplant mechanic, inspected "everything." The two pilots and another individual then test flew the airplane, and after the test flight, the two pilots were "happy with the airplane." One discrepancy was noted during the test flight; the rear vent was not functional. It was determined the flapper valve nut was loose; the nut was tightened, and the discrepancy was eliminated. The brokerage owner then drove the pilots back to their hotel.

The following day, also the day of the accident, at 0700 PDT, the pilots called their financial institution regarding the financing for the airplane. At 0900 PDT, the brokerage company owner picked the two pilots up from the hotel, and all three went to the brokerage owner's financial institution to complete a portion of the purchase transaction. At 1100 PDT, the three individuals arrived at the Fullerton Municipal Airport. The flight instructor and private pilot loaded the airplane with some personal items, fueled the airplane, and then departed the airport approximately 1345 PDT. According to the brokerage owner, the pilots wanted to leave Fullerton by 0900 PDT; however, there were some problems encountered with the financing that had to be resolved that morning.

The brokerage owner further stated the flight instructor was seated in the right seat, and the private pilot was seated in the left seat. The private pilot was going to fly the entire trip as a flight checkout in the accident airplane.

According to a fuel receipt, at 1509 mountain standard time, the airplane was fueled with 25.30 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel at the Prescott Municipal Airport, Prescott, Arizona.

According to communications provided by the Farmington Control Tower, the airplane landed at the Four Corners Regional Airport (FMN), Farmington, New Mexico, at 1903. At 1910, the airplane was fueled with 20.2 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel at the SevenBar Four Corners fixed base operator (FBO). At 1916, one of the two pilots contacted the Albuquerque Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS), via telephone, to obtain a weather update for the flight from FMN to APA. At 1933:42, the pilot was cleared for takeoff for an eastbound departure. At 1937:09, the pilot requested a frequency for flight following, and the controller instructed the pilot to contact Denver Center on frequency 118.57.

According to information provided by the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC), at 1943:17, the pilot contacted Denver ARTCC. At 1943:39, the pilot reported that his position was approximately 4 miles west of the Farmington VOR (very high frequency omni directional range station), on victor airway 210, at an altitude 9,500 feet, and the pilot requested visual flight rules (VFR) flight following. At 1944:40, the controller requested the airplane type, and the pilot acknowledged the request. At 1945:00, the controller reported the current Farmington and Alamosa, Colorado, altimeter settings. At 1945:09, the pilot acknowledged the controller's transmission, which was the last radio communication from the airplane. At 2014:31, Denver ARTCC lost radar contact with the airplane and attempts to contact the airplane were unsuccessful. The last recorded radar return of the accident airplane was at 10,700 feet msl.

Approximately 2141, an Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued by the Denver ARTCC for the accident airplane. At 2214, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center received an emergency locator transmission (ELT), and at 2227, they contacted the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), of Durango, Colorado. A search was initiated by the CAP, and at 0730, on September 24, 2002, the airplane wreckage was located at 37 degrees 6 minutes 5 seconds North latitude and 106 degrees 44 minutes 23 seconds West longitude. The accident site was approximately 85 miles northeast of FMN.

Personnel information

The flight instructor held a commercial pilot certificate with airplane multiengine land and sea, airplane single-engine land and sea, glider, and instrument airplane ratings. The flight instructor held a certified flight instructor certificate for airplane single-engine land, airplane multiengine land, glider, and instrument airplane. In addition, the flight instructor also held an airframe and powerplant certificate, an inspection authorization certificate, and a flight engineer certificate. The instructor was issued a second class medical certificate on March 15, 2002, with the limitation, "Holder shall wear lenses that correct for distant vision while exercising the privileges of his/her airman certificate." The flight instructor's logbook was not located; however, according to his most recent medical application, the instructor reported having accumulated a total flight time of 9,000 hours, of which, 500 hours were flown in the preceding six months.

In a telephone interview conducted by the NTSB IIC, a former student of the flight instructor reported it was "uncharacteristic for [flight instructor] to fly low over mountains." He added the flight instructor was extremely cautious, and had flown several night cross-country flights over the mountains.

The private pilot was issued his private pilot certificate on May 24, 2000, and was issued his instrument airplane rating on July 3, 2002. The private pilot was issued a first class medical certificate on March 25, 2002, with no limitations or restrictions. A review of the private pilot's logbook revealed that he had accumulated approximately 272 total flight hours. In the preceding 90 days, the pilot had logged 27 hours total flight time, and in the preceding 30 days, he had logged 15 hours of flight time. The private pilot had received most of his flight instruction with the flight instructor.

Aircraft information

The 1976-model Piper PA-28R-200 airplane, serial number 28R-7635323, was a low wing, retractable landing gear, semi-monocoque design airplane. The airplane was powered by a four cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed, normally aspirated Lycoming IO-360-C(1)C (serial number L-15663-51A) engine, rated at 200 horsepower. The airplane was configured to carry a maximum of four occupants.

The airplane was issued a standard airworthiness certificate and was certificated for normal category operations. The airplane was registered to Melcarl Aviation Company on the day of the accident. A review o