Cirrus SR22 N583KM

Summary

On 1 June 2014 at about 20:26 local time, a Cirrus SR22 registered N583KM, operated by Bucksbaum Robert, was involved in an accident near Durango, Colorado, United States. One person was 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

1 June 2014 at 20:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Durango, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Animas Air Park (00C)

Coordinates

37.1986, -107.8717

Aircraft

Cirrus SR22

Registration

N583KM

Category

Airplane

Year built

2002

Engines

1

Operator

Bucksbaum Robert

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Santa Monica → Durango

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN14LA277

Nobody was injured.

The student pilot’s decision to fly solo into an unfamiliar, mountain airport during high-wind conditions. Contributing to the accident was a partial loss of engine power during the attempted go-around, which was caused by an over-rich mixture setting. 

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot was conducting a solo flight from his home airport on the coast to an airport located in the mountains. Just before landing, the airplane encountered a "strong downward gust," likely due to a combination of high-wind conditions (the local weather was wind at 16 knots gusting to 24 knots about the time of the accident) and a steep terrain dropoff near the approach end of the runway. The pilot attempted a go-around, but the engine did not respond with full power. He subsequently lost control of the airplane, which then impacted left of the runway. The pilot reported that the mixture might have been "too rich" during the go-around attempt. Examination of the engine revealed excessive sooting on the spark plugs, which is indicative of an over-rich mixture condition; this condition likely resulted in the partial loss of engine power during the go-around attempt. The student pilot had not flown into the mountain airport before and had not been cleared to fly the route by a flight instructor.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.