Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On June 6, 1996, at 1220 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172RG, N9431D, struck power lines and then impacted terrain during initial climb following takeoff from runway 34, Lake County Airport, Leadville, Colorado. The certified flight instructor, sstudent pilot, and passenger received serious injuries and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aircraft was being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91 as an instructional flight and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight departed Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, about 1050.

According to the flight instructor, the flight to Leadville from Centennial Airport was uneventful with the exception that the student attempted to put in excessive nose up trim prior to takeoff. His student was flying the aircraft from the left front seat while he provided instruction in mountain flying and occupied the right front seat. The student's sister, a non pilot, was occupying one of the rear seats. They arrived at Leadville at 1155 and landed on runway 34.

The instructor said they parked the aircraft, walked around for awhile and then departed about 1210. They did not take on any fuel and he estimated they had about 40 gallons (240 pounds) of fuel on board for departure and return to Centennial Airport. He said he checked performance and noted that the manual stops at 8,000 feet pressure altitude. He did note that by his calculations the density altitude was approximately 12,000 feet.

Takeoff was on runway 34 following a normal run up. The flight instructor said he leaned the engine at 1,800 rpm (revolutions per minute) by using the rpm increase method and egt (exhaust gas temperature) gauge cross check. A short field takeoff was conducted using ten degrees flaps and rotating at 55 knots.

According to the flight instructor, the aircraft "popped" off the ground in a nose high attitude but the airspeed was "right around flying speed." By his account, the nose was leveled and the aircraft settled and came off the ground again in a nose high attitude. He said he told the student to "get into ground affect" and then realized that they would be unable to stop on the remaining runway so he took control of the aircraft and headed towards an open area. When he took control of the aircraft, he found there was excessive nose up trim set. Some power lines were in the flight path so he said he put down all the flaps to get over the power lines. The aircraft struck the power lines with the right outer wing and the flight instructor raised the flaps and put the gear handle down. The aircraft struck the ground in a flat rocky area before the gear became fully extended and slid to a stop. All three occupants exited the aircraft, which had sustained substantial damage. All three occupants received some injuries and were transported to the local hospital. The pilot was treated and released, the passenger had surgery performed, and the student was transported to Denver, Colorado, for further treatmen