Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 14, 2011, about 0730 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 150L, N1539Q, was substantially damaged when it impacted mountainous terrain near Silverton, Colorado. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to a private individual and was being operated by another private individual for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed. The local flight had originated about 0645 from Animas Air Park (00C), Durango, Colorado.

A witness about 4 miles to the southeast of the accident location reported the airplane just barely cleared the ridge when it flew directly over him at less than 100 feet above ground level (agl). The witness saw the airplane continue to the northwest and saw it circling when the airplane suddenly pulled nose up, appeared to go upside down, and disappeared from his view behind a ridge near the summit of the Stony Pass Trail.

The witness proceeded to the accident location and discovered the wreckage where it had impacted near the summit.

A family member of the pilot reported that the pilot was very familiar with the area around Stony Pass, since the family had been visiting the area since the 1970's and they thought he may have been scouting for a camping location in that area. They reported that although he was an experienced pilot, most of his flight time was logged at much lower elevations, and he was not very experienced at mountain flying.

The family member also reported that the pilot had no fear at all about flying the small single engine airplane over the mountains even at night. He had no fear about flying very low in the mountains and he liked to fly below the tops of the ridges at about 500 feet from the ground. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe 62-year old pilot held a private pilot certificate for airplane single engine land which was initially issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on September 27, 1998. He did not hold and instrument rating.

The pilot's most recent third class medical certificate was issued by the FAA on February 5, 2010, with the limitation "must have available glasses for near vision."

The pilot's logbook was not available for examination. A review of documents found in the wreckage included a flight review document dated February 16, 2010, where the pilot noted that he had logged 1,500 hours of flight experience, with 758 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane make and model. On his medical certificate application, dated February 5, 2010, he noted that he had logged a total of 4,125 hours of flight experience, with 60 of those hours in the previous six months. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe two-seat, high-wing, fixed gear airplane, serial number (s/n) 15072839, was manufactured in 1971. It was powered by a 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320-E2D engine, s/n RL-19365-27A, which drove a 2-blade McCauley metal alloy, fixed-pitch propeller.

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