Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On July 19, 2003, at approximately 1100 mountain daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5B, N742BM, operated by the pilot, was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain near Rabbit Ears Pass, approximately 15 miles southeast of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. A post impact fire ensued. The private pilot and his two passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91.

According to one witness, an airplane, matching the description of the accident airplane, departed the Fort Collins Downtown Airport (3V5), Fort Collins, Colorado, at approximately 0900. A second witness reported that an airplane, matching that same description, landed at Steamboat Springs/Bob Adams Field (SBS), Steamboat Springs, Colorado. According to the second witness, the airplane was on the ground for a short time. During this time, the second witness assisted the pilot in servicing one of the airplane's main landing gear tires with air while one of the passengers took a bathroom break. The pilot did not purchase fuel for the aircraft at SBS. The airplane departed at approximately 1045.

According to the Routt County Sheriff's Office, at 1116, they received a report of vertically rising black smoke near Rabbit Ears Pass. At approximately 1330, a crew in a firefighting helicopter dispatched to the scene to contain the fire, reported that there was aircraft wreckage in the fire. At approximately 1630, a search and rescue team reported an unknown number of fatalities. Due to the post impact fire, the immediate identification of the aircraft and its occupants was not possible. A serial number, obtained from the airplane's engine, was later used to identify the wreckage as N742BM.


PERSONNEL INFORMATION

According to FAA records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with an airplane single-engine land rating, dated September 10, 2001. The pilot held a third class airman medical certificate, dated August 17, 2001, with the limitation: "Must wear corrective lenses. Miscellaneous restriction assigned, not valid for any class after August 31, 2003."

According to the pilot's logbook, which included entries dated from June 8, 1990, to August 4, 2002, as of August 4, 2002, he had logged a total flight time of 199.1 hours in all aircraft, and 119.5 hours as pilot-in-command, of which a total of 20.0 hours of flight time was logged in N742BM. According to the pilot's son, on or about August 4, 2002, the pilot started a new logbook. The pilot's current flight logbook was not located.


AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane was a 1975 Grumman American model AA-5B (s/n AA-5B-0202). The airplane was equipped with a Lycoming model O-360-A4K reciprocating engine (s/n L-26919-36A). The engine was equipped with a Sensenich Corporation model 76EM8S10-0-63 two-bladed propeller (s/n 30679K).

According to airplane logbooks, a 100-hour/annual inspe