Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On January 30, 2010, about 1100 mountain standard time, a Maule M-6-235 airplane, N7613X, was substantially damaged when it impacted a power line near Bennett, Colorado. The airline transport certified pilot and a passenger were not injured. The personal flight was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 91 without a flight plan. The planned local flight originated at Erie Municipal Airport (EIK), Erie, Colorado, about 1030 with EIK as the intended destination. The flight ended at Everitt Airport (1CO8), Parker, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

Property owners reported a downed utility line on their property on January 31, 2010. The un-powered utility line, owned by the Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA) of Colorado, was repaired on February 1, 2010. Repairmen reported the top of one of the utility poles was broken off and the wire had separated from several poles.

Investigators became aware of the accident when the same property owners found airplane parts on their property about six weeks after the accident and reported it to authorities. On March 18, 2010, investigators responded to the scene and found the left wingtip, left aileron, and portions of a wing spar from an airplane. Investigators located the left wing at a repair facility in Greeley, Colorado, and subsequently contacted the pilot. The rest of the airplane was found in a private hangar at 1CO8.

The pilot told investigators he was flying along a creek bed, looking for a place to land and hike, when the left wing hit what he thought was a tree limb. The pilot continued to fly and, according to the passenger, he phoned a friend who lived at 1CO8 and made arrangements to land there. After landing at 1CO8 the pilot placed the airplane in his friend’s hanger. The pilot and passenger returned to the area where they thought the impact occurred and walked for several hours looking for the airplane parts. The terrain between the point of impact and 1CO8 was privately owned open pasture and farm land.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 50, held an Airline Transport Pilot certificate with a rating for airplane multi-engine land and Commercial Privileges for airplane single engine land. His last Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first-class medical certificate was issued in November 11, 2009, with no limitations.

A review of the pilot’s logbook showed he had accumulated 12,947 total hours, 2,041 single engine airplane hours, and 164 hours in this make and model of airplane. The pilot’s last flight review occurred on March, 25, 2009 in a Boeing 737 simulator.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The 1998-model Maule M-6-235 airplane, serial number 7498C, was a high wing single engine airplane, with fixed main landing gear and tail wheel, and was configured for four occupants. The airplane was powered by a Lycoming IO-540 engine, serial number L-23815-48A, rated at 23