Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn November 2, 2018, about 1150 mountain daylight time, an amateur-built Mustang II airplane, N287BM, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain near Broomfield, Colorado. The private pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and no flight plan had been filed for the local flight, which departed EIK about 1055.

Data from a Garmin GPSMAP 496 showed that, after departure, the airplane proceeded to the east and northeast before it turned back toward EIK. The last few minutes of data depicted the airplane crossing over runway 15/33 about midfield at an altitude of 6,130 ft mean sea level (msl) or about 1,000 ft above ground level (agl) and a groundspeed of 93 knots. The airplane continued on a left downwind leg and then a left base leg at an altitude of 5,878 ft msl and a ground speed of 93 knots. The airplane's last recorded position was at 1149:47 at an altitude of 5,417 ft msl and a ground speed of 93 knots.

Multiple witnesses south of EIK reported that the airplane flew from west to east at a low altitude and made a "steep" bank to the north, and the nose of the airplane then "dropped." One witness stated that the bank angle was about 90°. Witnesses located south of the accident site reported strong surface winds at the time of the accident, with one witness reporting that the wind was from the west between 35 and 40 mph (30 and 35 knots). The airplane impacted a grassy area and trees in a park near Anthem Ranch about 0.4 mile south of the approach end of runway 33 at EIK. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONThe observation taken at 1212 recorded wind from 310° at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots. Weather observations from two airports located near the foot of the mountains showed the following: at Boulder Municipal Airport, Boulder, Colorado (located 8 miles west of the accident site), at 1130 recorded wind from 290° at 24 knots, gusting to 34 knots; at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport, Denver, Colorado (located 7 miles southwest of the accident site), at 1150 recorded wind from 270° at 26 knots, gusting to 35 knots.

The National Weather Service (NWS) Surface Analysis Chart for 1200 depicted a stationary front across northeastern Colorado. The station models depicted clear skies over the region with temperatures between 40° and 50° Fahrenheit (F), dew point temperatures in the low 30s, and west wind about 10 knots. No significant weather or precipitation was reported over the route of flight.

A High-Resolution Rapid Refresh model sounding for the accident site at 1200 depicted an unstable environment from the surface to 6,000 ft msl with a conditionally unstable environment from 6,000 to 10,000 ft msl. The sounding also indicated a 10-knot surface wind from the west northwest, increasing to 37 knots by 10,000 ft. The sounding further indicated the possibility of l