Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On August 4, 2010, about 0620 mountain daylight time, a Beechcraft C35 airplane, N8974A, impacted trees and terrain in the Roosevelt National Forest near Rollinsville, Colorado. The commercial pilot and the two passengers were fatally injured. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The cross-country flight departed Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU), Boulder, Colorado, at 0600 and was en route to Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), San Jose, California.

According to the daughter of one of the passengers, the airplane and its passengers had been on a trip to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and had stopped at BDU to visit her before returning to California. She said the pilot had performed an emergency landing either on the way to Oshkosh or on the way back for a problem with the wiring on the propeller governor. She said the airplane had arrived at BDU the Sunday before the accident and the pilot had repaired the airplane by Tuesday, the day before the accident. She observed the airplane depart at 0600 on Wednesday morning and said the airplane was full of fuel.

A witness observed an airplane similar to the accident airplane, traveling west along Highway 119, West of Boulder, Colorado, at about 0615. The witness commented that the airplane was flying at tree level and that the weather was clear. He also stated that he did not hear any problems with the engine.

Reports of smoke coming from a remote area of the Roosevelt National Forest, about 8 miles west of Rollinsville, Colorado, were received by law enforcement and National Forest personnel about 1230. Responding forest service personnel arrived on scene and identified aircraft wreckage in the fire about 1530. There were no witnesses to the accident and radar data for the accident flight was not available.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 70, held an airline transport pilot certificate with a multi-engine rating, and a commercial pilot certificate with a single engine land rating. He also held a flight instructor certificate for airplane single and multiengine land, and instrument airplane. He was issued a Third Class medical certificate in February, 2009.

A copy of the pilot’s flight logbook was provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) for review. The logbook covered a date range from October 16, 1992, through July 21, 2010. A review of the logbook indicated that the pilot had logged no less than 4,906 hours. The pilot successfully completed the requirements of a flight review on September 2, 2009.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane, a Beech C35 (serial number D-2728), was manufactured in 1951. It was registered with the FAA on a standard airworthiness certificate for normal operations. A Teledyne Continental Motors E 225-8 engine rated at 225 horsepower at 2,650 rpm powere