Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On August 7, 2001, at 0740 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 320, multiengine airplane, N3338P, collided with terrain following a loss of engine power during the takeoff/initial climb from runway 15 at the Meadow Lake Airport, Falcon, Colorado. The airplane was owned by Three Eight Papa Group, LTD, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot received minor injuries and the pilot rated passenger in the right front seat and the passenger in the right rear seat received serious injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact and fire damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight, and a flight plan was not filed. The personal flight was originating at the time of the accident.

A witness/private pilot observed the airplane as it taxied to the runway and aligned for takeoff. He reported hearing the engines before the takeoff roll, and subsequently, observed the airplane 3/4 of the way down the 6,000-foot runway "not having achieved any lift and no apparent increase in speed." The airplane then veered to the right side of the runway, and the right main landing gear went off the runway. The airplane then achieved "some lift and rose slightly." Black smoke was observed coming from the right engine. The airplane climbed to approximately 100 feet agl, entered a left turn, and "stalled." The airplane struck the ground and burst into flames.

On the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2), the pilot reported that immediately after lift off from the runway, the airplane veered to the right and did not climb. He turned the airplane to the left to avoid a 4-foot berm approximately 30 feet to the right of the runway. He thinks he saw the left tachometer reading zero, but saw the left propeller turning. The airplane was in a 30 degree left bank and descending toward the ground when he leveled the wings. Subsequently, the airplane went through a barbed wire fence, hit the ground, and slid to a stop. By the time the airplane came to rest, the "ground fire engulfed the cockpit."

The pilot rated passenger reported that the pilot had "revved" the right engine several times during the run-up, and during the takeoff roll, the pilot was "not able to bring the mixture up on the right engine. I told him I did not think he would be able to make it. He took off anyway and started a left turn." The passenger further reported that there had been "trouble with the right engine ever since it was reworked several months prior to the accident." He had aborted several takeoffs "because the right engine would flood out when trying to bring the mixture up."

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land, multiengine land, and instrument ratings. The Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report indicated the pilot had accumulated a total of 599.4 flight hours of which 113.9 hours were in the make and model of th