Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn March 19, 2014, at 1650 mountain daylight time, N90464, a Smith Aerostar 601P twin engine airplane was destroyed when it collided with terrain while conducting low level aerobatics near Aurora, Colorado. The airline transport rated pilot/registered owner was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The time and location of where the airplane departed was not determined.

A witness stated that the pilot planned to fly over his home that afternoon to show him and another mutual friend the airplane, which he had recently purchased. The witness, who was a retired military pilot, said he was standing outside his home about ¼-mile from the accident site, when he first saw the airplane approach from east to west. The airplane flew over a set of power lines and cleared them by about five feet at an estimated speed of 200-230 knots. The witness said the airplane then made a sharp right hand turn toward the north before it pitched straight up with the nose of the airplane going "pure vertical" and performed a "hammerhead stall." The witness said the pilot kicked full right rudder, descended, and recovered from the dive about 20 feet at above the ground. The airplane then headed toward the south and flew over the witness's home at a height of 20 feet above the roof. The witness said that as the airplane flew over his home, he was yelling out loud to the pilot to "Just stop!" He said the pilot then made two more "extremely low" passes. On the fifth and final pass, the pilot again flew east to west and cleared the witness's home by about 5 feet, before making a right 90 degree turn to the north. The witness said he then ran around the side of his home, when he heard a shotgun-like sound followed by an explosion. He thought the pilot had overstressed the airplane. The witness then saw smoke, realized the airplane had crashed and responded to the accident site.

Another witness stated he was a retired military pilot and was currently employed as a professional airline pilot. It was about 1645, when he observed the airplane from his home that was located about 1/8th-mile from the accident site. The witness said the airplane was making low altitude, high-bank turns, and "wing-over" maneuvers for about five minutes before it impacted terrain. He said the airplane was continually operating in a "high kinetic energy" manner where each maneuver went immediately into another maneuver. The witness thought the pilot had to have been a very experienced aerobatic pilot to maneuver the airplane the way he did. He said the pilot flew from one maneuver directly into another maneuver and the power was at a high RPM the entire time. There was no "relaxing" between maneuvers and he estimated the degree of bank during the turns was between 80-110 degrees. The witness said that when the airplane recovered from the wing-over maneuvers