Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 21, 2005, approximately 0830 mountain standard time, an American Champion 8KCAB, N70MT, piloted by a private pilot, was destroyed when it impacted terrain 7 miles east of Calhan, 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 without a flight plan. The private pilot was fatally injured. The local flight departed Meadow Lake Airport (00V), Colorado Springs, Colorado, approximately 0750.

National Track Analysis Program radar data indicated the airplane was maneuvering just east of Calhan Airport (5V4), Calhan, Colorado. The airplane's altitude varied between 11,600 feet mean sea level (msl) (4,990 feet above ground level (agl)) and 8,000 feet msl (1,390 feet agl) and the change in altitude and direction was consistent with aerobatic maneuvers. The last radar return was located at a global positioning system (GPS) coordinates of 39 degrees, 04 minutes, 00 seconds north latitude, and 104 degrees, 09 minutes, 16 seconds west latitude, at an encoded altitude of 8,000 feet. The wreckage was located 1.4 miles southwest of the GPS coordinates.

Concerned family members reported the airplane overdue on the afternoon of November 21, 2005. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an alert notice (ALNOT) at 1949. A local rancher discovered the wreckage about 0830 on November 22.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot, age 54, held a private pilot certificate issued on July 13, 1987, with an airplane single engine land rating. The pilot held a third class airman medical certificate issued on April 28, 2005. The certificate contained the limitation; "Holder shall wear lenses that correct for distant vision and possess glasses for near vision." At the time of the medical application, the pilot reported a total flight time of 1,127 hours.

The family provided a notarized copy of the pilot's most recent logbook to the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge (IIC). A review of the logbook indicated that the pilot had logged 1,340 hours total time; 82 hours in the past 90 days and 24 hours within the past 30 days. The Safety Board IIC estimated that the pilot had logged no less than 400 hours total time in the accident airplane. On March 8, 2004, the pilot successfully completed the requirements of a flight review. This flight was conducted in the accident airplane and included the following maneuvers: "steep turns, slow [flight], stalls, loops, rolls [right and left], and spins."

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The accident airplane, an American Champion 8KCAB (serial number 916-2003), was manufactured in 2003. It was registered with the FAA on a standard airworthiness certificate for normal acrobatic operations. The airplane was equipped with a Textron Lycoming AEIO-360-H1B engine rated at 180 horsepower at 2700 rpm. The engine was equipped with a two-blade, constant speed Hartzell propeller.

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