Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On September 13, 2006, approximately 1524 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-46T-350P, N71DH, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it made a hard landing at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed. The pilot and passenger on board the airplane were not injured. The cross-country flight originated at Springfield, Missouri, and was en route to Colorado Springs.

According to the pilot's accident report, he had been cleared to land on runway 17R. At that time the runway was vacant. While on short final, the control tower cleared a McDonnell Douglas MD-80 for takeoff. "I was surprised that [the MD-80] did not do a rolling start and that he was not ordered to expedite for landing traffic," the pilot wrote. He considered making a go-around, but decided against it because there were numerous airplanes following him. "I thought [the landing] could be safely completed before the point [the MD-80] rotated. I unexpectedly encountered sever turbulence from the engines of the departing jet at approximately 10-15 feet above the normal touchdown. The aircraft pitched up and the airspeed disintegrated rapidly, causing the aircraft to land violently on the mains, and bouncing me high off the runway. The aircraft bounced a second time and I applied full power in an attempt to save it. I could not generate enough lift and the aircraft impacted the runway the third time causing the nose gear to collapse. The aircraft skidded to a stop on the runway." Further examination revealed the right wing upper skin was wrinkled. The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane, resulting in an inadvertent stall. Contributing factors in this accident were the jet blast encounter, and the pilot's failure to initiate a go-around when he felt an unsafe condition existed.