Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 9, 2014, about 1200 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA 28R-201 airplane, N3509M, impacted mountainous terrain southeast of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was registered to VSP Aviators LLC and operated by Journeys Aviation Flying Club under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as an instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was filed. The cross country flight originated from the Steamboat Springs Airport (SBS), Steamboat Springs, Colorado, about 1145 and was en route to the Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU), Boulder, Colorado.

An Alert Notice (ALNOT) was issued at 1720 when the flight was overdue. A search for the airplane was initiated and the wreckage was located at 2146 in a mountain valley about 12 miles southeast of SBS.

Email correspondence between the private pilot and the flight instructor revealed that the intended route of flight for the day was from BDU, to Eagle, Colorado (EGE), to Glenwood Springs, Colorado (GWS), to EGE, to SBS, and terminating at BDU. The flight instructor was providing instruction to the private pilot to complete a mountain flying training course. The final leg of the flight was intended to start at SBS, continue over Milner Pass and finish at BDU; the exact route of flight was not discussed.

According to local pilots, when flying over the mountains from SBS, a popular place to fly over is Rabbit Ears Pass because of the landmarks and the highway below. There was a second mountain pass south of Rabbit Ears Pass which did not follow a highway. The main wreckage was found near the second mountain pass about 5 miles southwest of Rabbit Ears Pass and about 2 miles south of the highway. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe flight instructor, age 62, held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for single engine, multi-engine land and instrument airplane. He also held a flight instructor certificate for single engine, multi-engine and instrument airplane. On November 30, 2012, the instructor was issued a limited second class medical certificate with the limitation to wear corrective lenses for near and distant vision. At the time of the medical certificate application he reported his flight experience as 3,310 total hours and 800 hours in six months preceding the examination. The pilot's total flight time was estimated to be 4,000 hours.

The pilot under instruction, age 60, held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land. On October 31, 2013, the pilot was issued a third class medical certificate without waivers or limitations. At the time of the medical certificate application he reported his flight experience as 73 total hours and 0 hours in the six months preceding the examination. According to the pilot's logbook, he had accumulated about 134 total hours and about