Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT:

On October 1, 1994, at 1420 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28R-200, N1480X, was destroyed while maneuvering to reverse flight direction near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The airline transport rated pilot/flight instructor and the two private pilots received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the cross country mountain flying instructional flight.

During interviews and on the enclosed statements the operator and flight instructor reported the information in this paragraph. The flight originally departed the Le Tourneau University Flight School on September 29, 1994, at Longview, Texas, for a cross country flight to Palm Springs, California. The two private pilots were enrolled in Le Tourneau University Title 14 CFR Part 141 professional pilot course and were building cross country flight time toward their commercial certification. On the return flight, routing was planned through Colorado for the mountain portion of the course curriculum.

On October 1, 1994, the flight departed Page, Arizona, for Salida, Colorado. The private pilot and flight instructor evaluated the in flight weather and amended the flight plan for a more southerly route with a destination change to Alamosa, Colorado. The amended route was to follow the road from Pagosa Springs, Colorado, over Wolf Creek Pass, to Alamosa. As the flight continued, they realized a selection of the "wrong road" and the flight instructor made the decision for a turn-around at about 2,500 feet above ground level according to the enclosed statement. This was the flight instructor's second demonstration for the day on how to do a 180 degree turn around procedure in a box canyon environment. The flaps were fully extended prior to turning the airplane. The instructor turned the airplane to the "right side of the canyon (south) and then began the turn back towards the left in a bank of approximately 35 degrees." The flight instructor stated that "near the completion of the turn, we experienced a severe unexpected downdraft" with a resulting rate of descent of "6,000 FPM" and the airplane hit the trees.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION:

Flight Instructor records from the school and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that he was designated as the chief flight instructor on August 24, 1989. The designation included a standardization flight in the PA-28R-200. On February 13, 1994, the flight instructor satisfactorily completed an AOPA Air Safety Foundation flight instructor refresher clinic and an FAA surveillance on July 21, 1995.

During interviews, school personnel stated that the mountain flying curriculum route, with a departure from Longview, Texas, included Alexander Airport, Salida, Colorado; Buena Vista Airport, Buena Vista, Colorado; and Lake County Airport, Leadville, Colorado, with the highest elevation at 9,927 feet. The school curriculum does not specify a minimum altitude in mountainous terrain. They reporte