Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn December 8, 2021, about 1013 mountain standard time, a Vans RV-4 airplane, N456MC, sustained substantial damage when it was involved in an accident near Walsenburg, Colorado. The pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

According to two other pilots involved in the flight, the accident flight was a three-airplane formation flight to practice position changes and low-level maneuvering. The three airplanes departed Meadow Lake Airport (FLY), Colorado Springs, Colorado, and headed south with the accident airplane as the lead airplane. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the airplanes flew south past Pueblo, Colorado, and began a descent toward the Cucharas Reservoir, northeast of Walsenburg. The airplanes were in a right-echelon route formation and were prepared to go to a trail formation for low-level maneuvering within the river canyon.

About 1 mile north of the reservoir, the accident pilot directed the two other pilots to “go trail,” and he made a left turn and a descent toward a river canyon that extended north of the reservoir. The pilots reported they entered a descent and encountered strong surface winds and turbulence above the canyon rim. The accident pilot’s airplane descended below the canyon rim and continued the descent to near the bottom of the canyon. One pilot reported there was a strong south-southwest wind (210° at 35 mph) a couple thousand feet above the surface, so he remained above the canyon rim to assess potential turbulence. During the third turn and less than a minute inside the canyon, the pilots observed the accident airplane’s left wing contact the edge of the canyon at a high speed. The airplane fragmented and came to a stop in the canyon. After the accident, the pilots circled the area, contacted air traffic control to report the accident location, and then returned to FLY.

A review of the automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed the flight tracks for the three airplanes were consistent with the witness reports. The accident airplane’s data ended about 1 mile west of the accident site.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe airplane logbooks and records were not located during the investigation.
METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONThere were several pilot reports (PIREPs) of light-to-moderate turbulence over the area prior to the accident, with at least four urgent reports of moderate-to-severe turbulence after the accident.

The National Weather Service Graphic Turbulence Guidance provided eddy dissipation rates between 20 and 45 over southern Colorado in the vicinity of the accident site consistent with moderate-to-severe turbulence.

Huerfano County Sheriff’s personnel, who responded to the accident site shortly after receiving the report of a missing airplane, reported the winds above the canyon rim were different in intensity and direction than the winds encountered within the canyon. The winds within the ca