Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On March 15, 1997, approximately 1220 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-28-180, N4860T, operated by Northern Colorado Air Charter, was destroyed when it collided with parked aircraft during a forced landing at Fort Collins, Colorado. One passenger sustained minor injuries, but the private pilot and two other passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight was originating when the accident occurred.

The following is based on a telephone interview with the pilot, his subsequent written accident report, and witness statements. The airplane took off on runway 11. Witnesses in the airport administration building said that when the airplane passed the departure end of the runway, it was at an extremely low altitude and appeared to be "staggering out." The pilot said that after making a 45 degree right turn for noise abatement, the engine lost power. "It felt like it was operating at 1,800 rpm," he wrote, and said it felt like the throttle "came halfway out. The airplane wasn't climbing very well" (the pilot reported the same sequence of events to the Larimer County Sheriff Office, see attached report). The pilot called on Unicom and announced he was making an emergency landing on runway 29. He then made a shallow left turn to return to the airport. When the pilot reduced power, the airplane landed hard at midfield on the runway but at a 45 degree angle. The airplane continued across the ground, jumped a ditch, hit a tree, and collided with three parked airplanes before coming to a halt. The three occupants evacuated the airplane as it caught fire. N4860T was destroyed in the ensuing fire. The airplanes struck were a Beech C24R (minor damage), a Cessna 152 (destroyed), and a Piper PA-28-235 (substantial damage).

Several pilots flying in the traffic pattern heard the emergency call on the radio and observed the accident. They noted the nose high attitude of the airplane, and said the pilot should have landed in the field adjacent to the runway.

When the pilot was interviewed by telephone, he stated that an employee of the operator helped clean snow off the wings. The employee denied this, stating he only gave a broom to the pilot. When the employee noticed the pilot was having difficulty starting the engine, he assisted by performing a "flooded" start. When he exited the airplane, he noticed snow and ice on the wings and told the pilot he would have to remove it before flying. The pilot said he cleaned the wings off again. The the non-pilot rated passengers said they went inside the administration building to keep warm. This time they did not assist the pilot in cleaning the airplane nor did they observe him cleaning the airplane. The two rear seat passengers said that when they reboarded the airplane, the wings had been cleaned off.

The pilot said he leaned the mixture for takeoff, using a power settin