Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On February 9, 2008, approximately 1115 mountain daylight time, a Plochar SHA-Glasair, N315LP, registered to and operated by the pilot, was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), Telluride, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions (VMC) prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 without a flight plan. The private pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was not injured. The cross-country flight originated at Boise (BOI), Idaho, approximately 0800, and was en route to TEX.

The pilot told an FAA inspector that he landed "hot" and hard in a slight tailwind. The airplane began to porpoise. The nose wheel broke off and the airplane skidded to a halt. The airplane was transported back to BOI where a mechanic, who examined the airplane, reported finding significant damage to the composite structure.

According to the pilot's accident report, the wind was initially reported to be calm, so he planned on landing on runway 09 as per the airport's request to avoid flying over populated areas. As he got closer to the airport, TEX Unicom advised that the winds were from 260 degrees at 6 knots. He decided to postpone dropping his flaps until he "had the runway made." This resulted in a 90 knot airspeed, "which is a little high," and he crossed the runway threshold at 50 feet agl (above ground level). Full flaps were deployed and he reduced airspeed as he approached the runway. He noticed his groundspeed "was quite a bit higher than what [he] was accustomed to." The first touch down was 800 feet past the runway threshold and as he pulled back to flare, the airplane ballooned up 20 feet. The pilot flared again but the airplane dropped and bounced on the main gear, then the nose gear, which then collapsed. The propeller struck the runway and the airplane skidded to a halt.

According to the pilot's accident report, he had logged 73 total flight hours, of which 22 hours were in the Glasair. The pilot's improper flare and his failure to maintain aircraft control, resulting in the design stress limits of the nose gear being exceeded. Contributing factors in this accident was the excessive airspeed, the pilot-induced porpoise of the airplane, and the tailwind.