Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On May 12, 2006, approximately 1645 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-46-350P, N41827, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Del Norte Municipal and County Airport (8V1), Del Norte, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal cross-country flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot and 3 passengers on board the airplane were not injured. The flight originated at Fort Worth Meacham International Airport (FTW), Fort Worth, Texas, approximately 1330 central daylight time.

According to a telephone interview with an FAA inspector and a written statement submitted along with his accident report, the pilot said he had been taught to fly a "high and hot final" approach. He said he made his final approach to runway 26 at 85 KIAS (knots indicated airspeed) with 2 notches of flap deployed. When the airplane was about a mile from the runway, the engine "barked." The pilot said he enrichened the mixture slightly and the engine ran smoothly. When the airplane was about 150 yards from the runway threshold, it "fell," or began to sink excessively in a nose high attitude. The pilot attributed this sudden descent to windshear. The airplane "landed hard and bounced." The pilot said he retracted the landing gear (because there was a ditch ahead and he thought it would be better to hit the ditch with the landing gear up). He said the landing gear did not retract. He added power to abort the landing, but the engine did not respond. The airplane touched down again, swerved 90 degrees, and skidded to a halt on the dirt.

A pilot-witness told the FAA inspector that the wind was about 5-10 knots down the runway with no gusts. He said there were some convective clouds in the area. He saw the airplane on a long, low final approach, and the engine was at a high power setting. The witness did not hear any unusual noises from the engine. When the airplane was just short of the runway, it began to sink excessively in a high pitch attitude. It landed "very hard" about 200 feet beyond the runway threshold, and rolled on its nose wheel ("wheel barrowing"). He witness heard power applied "as if the pilot was attempting a go-around." The engine sounded like it was producing "good" power. After the hard landing and bounce, he saw the landing gear retracting. The airplane touched down again and went off the right side of the runway about 2,400 feet from the threshold. It swerved 90 degrees to the right and came to rest facing north.

An airline transport pilot-witness watched as the airplane turn onto a 5-mile final approach. The approach appeared to him to be normal and stable. "At 25 feet agl (above ground level), the aircraft pitched up and began a very high rate of descent." The witness said the airplane hit the ground first with its left, then the right, then nose gear. He sa