Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On June 3, 2001, at 0955 mountain daylight time, a Cessna T210G, N6886R, collided with trees on the north peak of Rabbit Mountain and was destroyed by impact forces when it descended uncontrollably into a ravine approximately 7 miles northwest of Vance Brand Airport (2V2), Longmont, Colorado. The commercial and instrument rated pilot and his two passengers were fatally injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for this cross-country flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight, to Lexington (LXN), Nebraska, departed Vance Brand Airport at 0953.

According to witnesses at the departure airport, the weather was cool and humid with light winds, a visibility of 3 to 4 miles and a ceiling of 300 to 700 feet. They observed the aircraft as it made a "very flat, but fast," departure from runway 29. The "engine and prop sounds seemed normal for a full-power takeoff." They ran to the north side of their hanger for an unrestricted view of the sky west to north to see when the airplane would disappear into the clouds. At about 500 feet above ground level, it entered the clouds. Shortly thereafter, it re-emerged from the cloud base and proceeded out of visual range to the northwest. Their initial thoughts were "that the pilot must have been trying to stay out of the clouds so he could depart the area in VFR (visual flight rules) conditions, and commented to each other on the pilot's proximity to Rabbit Mountain."

Witnesses at the accident site stated that the visibility was approximately 100 feet and the ceiling was approximately 100 feet at the time of the accident. A witness, who observed the impact, stated that he heard the airplane's engine "rev up to full throttle," while it was still in the clouds and that the airplane was traveling about "90 to 100 miles per hour" and in a very steep decent when it emerged from the clouds. He stated that the airplane hit the ground first with its left wing and then bounced and rolled into the gulch.


PERSONNEL INFORMATION

A review of FAA records revealed that the pilot was an instrument rated commercial pilot in airplane single engine land aircraft. He held a third class medical certificate, dated January 23, 2001, with a limitation that required him to wear corrective lenses while performing the duties of a pilot. On the application for the medical certificate, the pilot reported his total flight in all aircraft as 2,440 hours.

According to the pilot's flight log, the last entry dated April 24, 2001, was a 1.7 hour cross-country flight with an instructor. This was his flight review and it included 0.9 hours of simulated instrument time. The pilot's flight time at the completion of the flight review was 2,680.1 hours in all aircraft; 2,530.6 hours as pilot in command; 86.3 hours of actual instrument; 70.3 hours of simulated instrument; 32.8 hours of night and 3.1 hours of multi-engine land. An accurate account of flight