Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On July 4, 2004, approximately 0745 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172E, N3581S, registered to and operated by Prairie Flyers, Inc., of Rocky Ford, Colorado, was destroyed when it collided with terrain during an attempted go-around at the La Junta Municipal Airport, La Junta, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The training flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot reported no injuries. The local flight originated at 0730.

In a telephone interview with, and according to the report submitted by, the pilot, he said he had soloed the previous week, and he wanted to practice takeoffs and landings. He was uncomfortable with his landing approach to runway 30, and elected to make a go-around. The airplane was at a low airspeed when he applied full power, and it yawed to the left. The pilot said the airplane stalled and impacted terrain on the left side of runway 30, between runways 08 and 30. The engine was torn away from the airframe, the landing gear buckled the fuselage, the left wing and the left and right horizontal stabilizers were crushed. the student pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control and adequate airspeed during the go-around resulting in an inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the low airspeed and altitude.