Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn April 30, 2015, about 1257 mountain daylight time, an experimental amateur-built Hoffman Zenith 701, N95MH, sustained substantial damage when it impacted terrain about 2.5 miles north of Trinidad, Colorado. The non-certificated pilot received fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to a private individual and was operated by the non-certificated pilot under the provisions of the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. No flight plan was filed. The time and place of departure, and the destination airport, are unknown.

A witness who lived near the accident site reported the he heard the airplane approaching from the east and he went outside to observe the airplane. He saw the airplane making two left hand circles overhead about 200 to 300 feet above ground level. He could see the pilot wearing a headset and sunglasses. The engine was running normally and was "revved out." The witness reported that on the third circle, the airplane "floated." He stated that the pilot was turning the airplane by using the rudder, the wings were not banked to the left, and the airspeed was low. He reported that the engine noise stopped, and the airplane flipped over to the left and went straight down. He reported that the nose of airplane rose slightly before ground impact. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe 53-year-old pilot was not a certificated pilot and he did not hold a medical certificate. The pilot did not possess a valid driver's license, but did have a valid Colorado identification card. The pilot's flight time was unknown. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane was an experimental amateur-built Hoffman Zenith 701, serial number 001, manufactured in 2009. The engine was a 100-horsepower Rotax 912 ULS-2, serial number 5651969. It seated two and had a maximum gross weight of 1,100 lbs. The maintenance logbooks were not obtained during the investigation. The hour meter on board the airplane indicated that it had a total of 435 hours. The airplane was equipped with a Dynon EFIS-D10A, a 4-inch flight instrument display.

The airplane's fuselage and wings were originally painted in red, yellow, and white. The horizontal stabilizer was painted red, the vertical stabilizer was painted yellow, and the rudder was painted in a white and black checkerboard pattern. Witnesses reported that the pilot was in an earlier accident in the airplane in 2014 that resulted in substantial damage to the nose gear, engine compartment, and both wings of the airplane. Both wings were replaced and the nose and engine compartment was repaired. The airplane was then painted white. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONAt 1354, the surface weather observation at Perry Stokes Airport (TAD), Trinidad, Colorado, located about 10 miles to the northeast of the accident site, was: wind variable at 3 kts; visibility 10 miles; sky clear; temperature 25 degrees C; dew point -1 degrees C; altimeter 30.01 inc