Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On July 19, 1995, at 1340 mountain daylight time, a Mooney M20J, N700CF, impacted the ground next to the runway during landing at Crawford, Colorado. The pilot received fatal injuries and the aircraft was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for this personal flight which originated from Murrieta, California, at 0800 Pacific daylight time with an intended destination of Port Huron, Michigan.

According to marked charts found in the aircraft, which were confirmed by the pilot's widow, the intended route of flight through the Rocky Mountain area was across the northern part of New Mexico, approximately 130 miles south of the accident site. No information was developed during the course of the investigation to indicate why the pilot was in the vicinity of Crawford, what his route of flight from takeoff had been, or if he made any stops. He had been en route for approximately 5 hours and 40 minutes at the time the accident occurred.

Witnesses located at the Crawford Airport (see attached statements) provided information that the aircraft circled the airport in an erratic fashion prior to the accident and may have attempted to communicate with Crawford UNICOM.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

Book four of four was the only pilot log book recovered. That book starts on October 31, 1990, and entries indicate the pilot received his private pilot certificate on February 20, 1958, with a rating in airplane, single-engine, land. He received his multiengine rating September 21, 1982, and a rating in gliders on August 8, 1963. He did not hold an instrument rating.

A letter to the pilot from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) dated March 3, 1994, was found in the aircraft. The letter is attached and indicates a review of the pilot's medical records was conducted due to Parkinson's disease. The letter established that the pilot was eligible for a third class medical certificate and cautioned the pilot concerning being prohibited from operating an aircraft any time new symptoms or adverse changes occurred as a result of the disease. The pilot's medical certificate was also recovered and was issued on February 4, 1994, with the restriction that the pilot wear glasses for near and distant vision. His previous medical certificate dated November 19, 1991, was also recovered and contained a similar restriction.

According to other recovered records, the pilot purchased the aircraft new on July 5, 1994. The last entry in the aircraft log provided information dated November 29, 1994, that as of the entry the aircraft had accumulated 71.3. According to the pilot's widow, he was the only person who flew the aircraft and she believed he flew more hours than the log indicated, but additional time could not be verified. The pilot's log documents only 2.0 hours in the aircraft which was a biennial flight review dated July 28, 1994.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The aircraft log provided information that t