Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On June 5, 2000, at 1031 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-31-350, twin-engine airplane, N67BJ, was destroyed when it impacted terrain and burned following a loss of control while maneuvering near Kiowa, Colorado. The airplane was registered to EDB Air Inc., of Greenwood Village, Colorado, and was operated by Key Lime Air, Inc., of Englewood, Colorado. The airline transport instructor pilot and the commercial pilot receiving instruction received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. The local flight originated from Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, at 0930.

One witness observed the airplane from her driveway. She stated that she heard the airplane's engines and turned to look at it. She added that as "the [engine] noise was getting louder and louder, I spotted it spiraling downward." The witness did not remember hearing any sputtering. The witness thought that the airplane was performing aerobatics; however, the airplane was getting too close to the ground. Just prior to the airplane impacting the ground, the witness turned her head so she would not see the impact, but she heard a loud thud. Approximately 3 seconds later, she heard a loud boom and saw black smoke billow up.

Another witness observed the airplane from her yard. She stated that she saw the airplane "going nose first straight down and spinning...counterclockwise." She thought the airplane was performing aerobatic maneuvers; however, the airplane did not stop descending. The airplane disappeared behind trees and the witness heard a loud explosion and saw smoke. She added that she did not observe what the airplane was doing prior to seeing it in a "downward spiral."

Radar data depicted the airplane at 8,400 feet msl for the last 2 minutes and 26 seconds of the flight. The recorded aircraft ground speed during that time period fluctuated between 75 and 59 knots. The final radar returns depicted the aircraft making a 180 degree turn before radar contact was lost. No mayday calls were received from the accident airplane.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The flight instructor held an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multi-engine land rating. In addition, he held a commercial certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, and a flight engineer certificate for turbojet and turbopropeller powered aircraft. The pilot also held a flight instructor certificate for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplanes, which was scheduled to expire on September 30, 2000. He was issued a first class medical certificate on February 28, 2000, with no limitations. According to company records, dated September 11, 1999, the instructor had accumulated a total of 3,900 flight hours. On June 13, 1999, the instructor completed 6.9 hours of flight training required to serve as pilot-in-command (PIC) in PA-31 aircra