Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On April 19, 1998, approximately 1715 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172P, N6174K, was substantially damaged following a loss of control during landing flare at Vance Brand Municipal Airport, Longmont, Colorado. The student pilot, the sole occupant aboard, received minor injuries. The airplane was owned and being operated by Travis A. McGinnis under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the solo instructional cross-country flight which originated from Broomfield, Colorado, approximately 2 hours before the accident. A VFR flight plan had been filed.

According to the student pilot (he had a total of 53 hours of flight time), he departed Crosson Field, Sterling, Colorado, with the intention of flying to Greeley-Weld County Airport, Greeley Colorado. He made the decision not to land at Greeley "because of the virga" at the airport, and instead flew to Vance Brand Municipal, his alternate airport. At Vance Brand, he observed two airplanes switch to runway 29 because of reported downdrafts on runway 11. Prior to landing, he was told by another pilot that the winds "were not bad at all."

While on final approach to land, the student pilot estimated the wind to be a 10 to 15 knot left crosswind. As he started to flare, he "noticed that [he] was getting blown off the runway centerline to the right, then got blown to the left and could not keep the plane from stalling at go-around decision." He heard the stall warning, and pitched the nose down in an attempt to build airspeed. When he pitched the nose back up to gain altitude, the stall warning went off again. At that point, he was "descending vertically with almost no horizontal motion," and the aircraft stalled. The student pilot stated that he believed he became unconscious after that point and was unable to recall the remainder of the events.

A witness reported that the airplane flew a normal pattern to runway 29. He stated that the airplane did not have any flaps down and that it floated approximately two thirds of the way down the runway when he heard the pilot apply power. The wind was "nearly a direct right cross with some good gusts" and that the hangars on that side of the field made the winds "burble." While the airplane was floating, "it seemed to turn into the wind and then away from the wind. It got slower and slower, and then it floated left of centerline over the grass." The airplane impacted the ground, separating the nose landing gear, bending the fuselage, and damaging both wings, the engine mount, and the firewall. The pilot inadvertently stalling the aircraft during the landing touchdown. Factors were a crosswind and the pilot's lack of total flight experience.