Piper PA-18-150 N4055Z

Summary

On 26 October 2005 at about 22:45 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N4055Z was involved in an accident near Cortez, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

26 October 2005 at 22:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Cortez, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

37.3031, -108.6281

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N4055Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Cortez → Cortez

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN06LA011

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the airplane, resulting in a ground loop. Contributing factors were the excessive descent rate, the obstacle (horse), the high density altitude, and the tailwind.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot said that he was attempting to land in a pasture next to his home when he noticed a horse near the approach end. He elected to land long to avoid the horse but realized there was not enough pasture remaining. He attempted a go-around and added full power but could not arrest the sink rate. He decided to land the airplane in the remaining pasture. He landed with power in a nose high attitude at stall speed. The left wing struck the ground, causing the airplane to rotate 180 degrees to the left, and the right wingtip dragged along the ground. The pilot said he was not use to the extra weight of a full fuel load and carrying a rear seat passenger with a 5 knot tailwind. Density altitude at the time of the accident was calculated to be 7,741 feet mean seal level (msl).

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.