- Date
- July 26, 1998, 22:00 local (Jul 27, 1998, 04:00 UTC)
- Place
- Franktown, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5147NCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980726017679A
- Case key
- 43549
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
Flight at an altitude insufficient to clear terrain. Factors were the pilot's failure to reset or correct a precessing directional gyro, his becoming lost/disoriented, and dark night light conditions.
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 pilot flew to Centennial Airport to practice touch and go landings. He departed the airport traffic pattern on an easterly heading, tuned the no. 1 navigation receiver to the Falcon Vortac, and rotated the OBS (Omni Bearing Selector) to 350 degrees. It was his intention to cross the 360 degree radial (sic, 180 degree radial), and then fly direct to the Falcon Vortac and direct to Front Range Airport. This route would avoid the Buckley ANG and Denver International Airport airspace. After he flew what he thought was an easterly heading the evidence indicates it was most probably a south-southeasterly heading) for 8 to 10 minutes and noting the CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) needle had failed to center, he made a shallow 360 degree turn and looked for recognizable landmarks. He then rotated the OBS to go direct to the Falcon Vortac, 'reset the directional gyro to the magnetic compass, making a significant correction,' and descended to 6,500 feet msl. After flying this heading for a minute, the airplane collided with terrain 11 miles southeast of Centennial Airport. Weather conditions at Centennial Airport consisted of clear skies and greater than 10 miles visibility. The pilot said it was a dark night.
Factual narrative
On July 26, 1998, approximately 2200 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N5147N, collided with terrain while in cruise flight near Franktown, Colorado. The private pilot, the sole occupant onboard, was not injured. The aircraft was being operated as a personal flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed. The flight originated at Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado, at 2045.
According to the pilot's accident report, he had flown to Centennial Airport to practice touch and go landings. He said he departed the airport traffic pattern on an easterly heading, tuned the no. 1 navigation receiver to the Falcon Vortac, and rotated the OBS (Omni Bearing Selector) to 350 degrees. It was his intention to cross the 360 degree radial (sic, 180 degree radial), and then fly direct to the Falcon Vortac and direct to Front Range Airport. By flying this route, he would avoid the Buckley ANG and Denver International Airport airspace.
After he flew what he thought was an easterly heading (the evidence indicates it was most probably a south-southeasterly heading) for 8 to 10 minutes and noting the CDI (Course Deviation Indicator) needle had failed to center, he made a shallow 360 degree turn and looked for recognizable landmarks. He then rotated the OBS to go direct to the Falcon Vortac and "reset the directional gyro to the magnetic compass, making a significant correction." (In a telephone interview with the pilot, he said he then descended to 6,500 feet msl). After flying this heading for a minute, the airplane collided with terrain. The accident location was near Franktown, Colorado, about 11 miles south-southeast of Centennial Airport (see the attached Denver TCA chart).
Weather conditions at Centennial Airport (the point of departure) consisted of clear skies and greater than 10 miles visibility. The pilot said it was a dark night.
Airplane damage consisted of a bent propeller, nose landing gear bent aft, broken windshield, crumbled engine cowling, and a broken left wing tip.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5147N
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17261417
- Airframe hours
- 9,078
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight Training, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Peter Carlson
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 6, 1998 · 90 hours before
- Departed
- FTG · Watkins, CO
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 200 total · 90 in this make and model · 170 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 37 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 180° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- APA, 11 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.
Other investigations on N5147N · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.