Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On May 29, 2001, approximately 1525 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, N5999V, was destroyed when it impacted water and sank to the bottom of Upper Marvine Lake, approximately 32 nautical miles east of Meeker, Colorado. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91.The flight originated at Meeker, Colorado, approximately 1500, and was en route to Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado.

According to Nevada-Cal Aero Flying Service documents, the pilot joined the Reno-based flying club on May 27, 2001. A flight instructor was assigned to administer a "club checkout" to "access (sic) the pilot proficiency for insurance purposes." The pilot told the instructor that most of his flight time had been accrued in Cessna 152s and 172s, and that he had never flown the PA-28-161. The instructor told him that the PA-28-161 was normally powered by a 160 horsepower engine, "but because of density altitude considerations," the airplane had been upgraded to a 180 horsepower engine. He was also told that the PA-28-161 "was not a 4 place airplane and under no circumstances [was he] to place 4 adults into this plane." The pilot was also told that in addition to the club checkout, he would need to log an additional 5 hours of "local flying time" before he could fly the airplane cross-country. The pilot said that he had scheduled the airplane on May 29 for that purpose. The checkout was satisfactory and the instructor gave the pilot the combination to the "lock box" containing the keys to the various airplanes.

According to the club's flight schedule, the pilot had scheduled the airplane from 0830 to 1730 on May 29 and all of May 30. According to a club memo, the accident pilot took the airplane on May 29 before his scheduled time, "bumping" a club member from the 0600 to 0830 time slot, and "bumping" another club member from the 1730 to 2030 time slot. "He made no mention at any time that he intended to leave the area, and absolutely no mention of taking the airplane to Colorado," the instructor wrote. According to a club spokesperson, the accident flight was an "unauthorized flight."

According to family sources, the pilot and his passengers were en route to Denver to attend the second game of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils professional hockey teams. FAA documents indicate that on May 29 at 0429, the pilot telephoned the Reno Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) and requested an "outlook" weather briefing from Reno, Nevada, to Denver, Colorado, and a "standard" weather briefing from Reno to Hawthorne, Nevada. He was told that the only AIRMET (Aeronautical Meteorology) in effect was for IFR conditions throughout the eastern third of Colorado. Ceilings and visibilities were forecast to be below 1,000 feet and 3 miles, respecti