Waco UPF 7 N29943

Summary

On 3 June 2015 at about 13:15 local time, a Waco UPF 7 registered N29943, operated by Upf-7 LLC, was involved in an accident near Montrose, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 June 2015 at 13:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Montrose, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

38.2999, -107.9006

Aircraft

Waco UPF 7

Registration

N29943

Category

Airplane

Year built

1940

Engines

1

Operator

Upf-7 LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Montrose → Elbert

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN15LA295

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to attain suitable altitude while flying over high mountainous terrain in downdraft conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a cross-country flight in the single-engine vintage airplane. The flight originated from an airport with an elevation of 5,758 ft mean sea level (msl). The pilot reported that the surface wind at the airport was 15 knots at takeoff. He added that the airplane reached an altitude of 8,500 ft msl, which he thought was sufficient to fly over the high, mountainous terrain. However, as the airplane neared higher terrain, it encountered a downdraft. The airplane's climb rate was not sufficient to overcome the effects of the downdraft, and the valley was too narrow to complete a turn to lower ground; the airplane subsequently impacted terrain. The pilot reported that it would have been safer if he had used better judgment and delayed approaching the higher terrain until he had climbed the airplane to more than 1,000 ft above the ground elevation. Additionally, given the 15-knot surface wind reported at the departure airport, it is likely that the wind aloft at 9,000 ft near the mountain pass where the accident occurred was much stronger. The pilot should have attained an altitude of 2,000 ft or more to ensure that the airplane had sufficient altitude to clear the pass's highest terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.