Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On January 31, 1996, at 2155 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-34-220T, N83809, registered to and operated by Rocky Mountain Propellers, Inc., was destroyed when it collided with mountainous terrain during descent 8 miles northwest of Estes Park, Colorado. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight was filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated from Erie, Colorado, approximately 2115.

According to a family member, the pilot was en route to Payne Field, Everett, Washington, to fulfill his U.S. Army Reserve duty. A spokesman for the airplane owner said the pilot telephoned the morning of the accident and asked that the airplane be put in a heated hangar. At 1910, the pilot telephoned the Denver Automated Flight Service Station and received a standard weather briefing that included pertinent NOTAMs (Notice to Airmen), forecast weather, and a VNR (VFR flight not recommended) statement. He then filed an IFR (instrument flight rules) flight plan, and indicated the route of flight would be from Erie, Colorado, direct to Laramie and Rock Springs, Wyoming, then direct to Boise, Idaho, where he was to stop for fuel. The proposed departure time was 2030. The initial cruising altitude was to be 12,000 feet and the true airspeed was given as 160 knots. A resident adjacent to the airport said he observed a twin engine airplane take off about 2130. It circled the airport twice before disappearing from view. He said it was quite cold and there was snow and ice on the ground.

The pilot contacted Denver TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) at 2120 and said he was VFR over the Tri-County Airport and requested his IFR clearance to Boise. The airplane was identified on radar at 2125 when it was 5 miles northeast of the Jefferson County Airport, and the pilot was instructed to climb and maintain 12,000 feet and to fly a heading of 010 degrees. The pilot was issued his IFR clearance at 2126 and was instructed to contact Denver Departure Control. Upon doing so, the pilot was told to fly a heading of 360 degrees to join the Laramie transition and to resume his own navigation.

At 2135, the pilot requested and was cleared to maintain VFR on top. The pilot advised he was proceeding direct to Rock Springs adding, "It's VFR below now, just come scattered..." Indicating he would fly at 14,500 feet, he requested a "vector heading for (Rock Springs) just to verify..." He was instructed to contact the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) with his request.

The pilot contacted Denver Center at 2136 and asked, "Could you give me a radar vector heading just to check that...We're going up to fourteen five but if need be, we'll climb to higher to get over the Divide there." The sector controller advised that he "had marginal radar coverage out there at that altitude...You're going to need a little more altitude...b