Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents
Learn from Colorado's accident history to fly safer in the Rockies
2310 Total Accidents
425 Fatal
816 Fatalities
1982-2026
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Minor/None
Rifle, Colorado
NTSB Narrative
The 52-year-old private pilot was attempting to land his single-engine, low-wing airplane on Runway 26 with a crosswind. While on final approach, at a speed of 90 mph, he encountered wind shear, which resulted in a sudden loss of airspeed. The airplane then made a slight bounce on the runway, before another gust of wind picked up the left wing and blew the airplane off the runway into the dirt. Subsequently, the right wing contacted the ground resulting in substantial damage. The propeller and the nose gear were also damaged. The wind at the time was reported from 220 degrees at 19 knots gusting to 33 knots. The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane on landing. A factor was the crosswind and wind gusts.
Case Study & Lessons Learned
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NTSB Findings
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Crosswind-Not specified - F
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Gusts-Not specified - F
Details
| NTSB Report | DFW08CA124 |
| Aircraft | Piper PA-28-180 |
| Registration | N7417W |
| Damage | SUBS |
| FAR Part | 091 |
| Location | 39.5222, -107.7228 |
