Cessna 310D N674FT

Summary

On 19 July 2000 at about 16:45 local time, a Cessna 310D registered N674FT was involved in an accident near Pagosa Springs, Colorado, United States. 5 people were on board and 2 were seriously injured, 3 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 July 2000 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Pagosa Springs, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Stevens Field (2V1)

Coordinates

37.2403, -107.0302

Aircraft

Cessna 310D

Registration

N674FT

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Unknown → Murrieta

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN00LA134

2 people were seriously injured.

The pilot inadvertently stalling the airplane. Factors were the pilot's failure to use the entire available runway, the high density altitude weather condition, and a partial loss of power on one engine due to a burned exhaust valve.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot initiated his takeoff in the twin-engine airplane with zero flaps on runway 19 with 1,000 feet of the 8,500 foot runway unused behind him. He said that the takeoff ground roll 'seemed too long,' but he felt that he had insufficient runway to abort the takeoff. The pilot said that after takeoff, 'the airplane would not climb or accelerate.' He raised the landing gear and started a slow left turn looking for a place to land between the trees. He said that he remembers seeing 55 mph on the airspeed indicator, and then the airplane dropped and impacted trees. The density altitude was 10,810 feet. A review of aircraft performance charts indicated the airplane should have been able to takeoff with a ground roll of 2,698 feet with a 15-degree flap setting. Postaccident examination of the left engine revealed that the #2 cylinder had no thumb compression. Further examination revealed that the top and face of the exhaust valve had two rust colored burn patterns opposite each other.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.