- Date
- January 12, 1996, 12:30 local (19:30 UTC)
- Place
- Collbran, CO
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2132JPiper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960112000469A
- Case key
- 19739
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
The pilot's intentional flight at low altitude, which resulted in inadequate terrain clearance to compensate for a downdraft. The downdraft was a related factor.
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
The airplane crossed a mountain ridge, flew into a canyon, and encountered 'a very fast rate of descent.' According to the pilot, the airplane descended below tree tops near a frozen lake. The pilot believed the airplane would not clear the trees ahead and elected to land on the lake. The airplane slid across the surface of the lake and up the opposite embankment, shearing off the right main landing gear.
Factual narrative
On January 12, 1996, approximately 1230 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N2132J, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Collbran, Colorado. The commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured, but another passenger sustained a minor injury. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91, and a company VFR flight plan was filed. The airplane operated by Larry G. Kempton, Jr., d/b/a Kempton Air Service
According to the pilot, one of the passengers said he wanted to take a flight lesson and take some aerial photographs. They departed and flew to the Grand Mesa, about 25 miles east of Grand Junction. The airplane was at 10,000 feet msl (mean sea level) when the pilot crossed a ridge and entered the Courier Lake Canyon. He said he encountered "a very fast rate of descent" and the airplane descended below the tree tops bordering the frozen lake. The pilot decided the airplane would not clear the trees ahead and elected to land on the lake. The airplane slid across the surface and up the opposite embankment, shearing off the right landing gear.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2132J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7990216
- Airframe hours
- 3,110
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Larry G. Kempton, Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · December 29, 1995 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- GJT · Grand Junction, CO
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
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
- 58
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 4,879 total · 184 in this make and model · 4,652 as pilot in command · 80 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 90 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GJT, 25 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.