Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On September 14, 1997, approximately 1615 mountain daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N86708, was destroyed when it collided with terrain shortly after takeoff at Telluride, Colorado. The commercial-rated flight instructor and student pilot 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 was originating at the time of the accident.

Jim Prendergast, the airport's line service technician, said the pilot, Ernest Thompson, had asked him to service N86708 with 12 gallons of fuel. This filled both tanks to capacity. Shelby Evans, one of Mr. Thompson's flight students, watched the two pilots prepare for departure. She said the battery in the airplane was so weak that Ernest Thompson had to turn the propeller by hand in order to start the engine. Ernest Thompson told his son, Jason, a student pilot, that he could fly the airplane. Ms. Evans observed Jason Thompson get in the front seat and Ernest Thompson get in the rear seat. Both Mr. Prendergast and Ms. Evans watched the airplane taxi out to runway 27. It was followed by a Mesa Airlines Beech 1900.

John Christensen, the captain of Mesa Airlines Flight 5012, said that as he taxied to the end of runway 27, he noticed N86708 in the run-up area. When its pilot announced he was ready for takeoff, he called him on the radio and asked him for his direction of flight. The pilot replied he was going to depart straight ahead, but would remain north of the runway. Mr. Prendergast also heard this conversation over the radio. Captain Christensen watched N86708 begin its takeoff roll, then turned his attention to making preparations for his own departure. His first officer, Curtis Hawley, watched the takeoff and remarked that the departing airplane had made what appeared to him to be "a very unusual maneuver."

Ms. Evans, who watched the takeoff, said the airplane lifted off where taxiway A2 intersects the runway (see airport layout, attached). When the airplane was near the end of the runway and had climbed to an altitude between 300 and 400 feet, it "veered" and "banked steeply" to the right and disappeared behind a hill. Mr. Prendergast also observed the airplane take off, and confirmed the pilot made an immediate right turn. He said the airplane appeared to be in a nose high attitude before disappearing behind a hill. Shortly thereafter, he heard the pilot of the departing commuter airplane report that an airplane had crashed. Mr. Prendergast went into the fixed base operator (FBO) office and called 9-1-1 to report the accident.

Witness Walter Durauer told investigators he observed N86708 take off. He said when the airplane got to the departure end of the runway, it made a right bank and a heading change of about 90 degrees. About one second after the pilot rolled out of the turn, "the airplane stalled," the right wing dropped, and the airpla