Cessna 172RG accident near Leadville, CO
On June 6, 1996, a Cessna 172RG (airplane) was involved in an accident near Leadville, CO. 3 people were seriously injured. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- June 6, 1996
- Place
- Leadville, CO
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172RG · Airplane
- Injuries
- 0 fatal, 3 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 39.240°N, 106.291°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X05965
NTSB summary
On June 6, 1996, at 1220 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172RG, N9431D, struck power lines and then impacted terrain during initial climb following takeoff from runway 34, Lake County Airport, Leadville, Colorado. The certified flight instructor, sstudent pilot, and passenger received serious injuries and the aircraft sustained substantial damage. The aircraft was being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91 as an instructional flight and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight departed Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, about 1050. According to the flight instructor, the flight to Leadville from Centennial Airport was uneventful with the exception that the student attempted to put in excessive nose up trim prior to takeoff. His student was flying the aircraft from the left front seat while he provided instruction in mountain flying and occupied the right front seat. The student's sister, a non pilot, was occupying one of the rear seats. They arrived at Leadville at 1155 and landed on runway 34. The instructor said they parked the aircraft, walked around for awhile and then departed about 1210. They did not take on any fuel and he estimated they had about 40 gallons (240 pounds) of fuel on board for departure and return to Centennial Airport. He said he checked performance and noted that the manual stops at 8,000 feet pressure altitude. He did note that by his calculations the density altitude was approximately 12,000 feet. Takeoff was on runway 34 following a normal run up. The flight instructor said he leaned the engine at 1,800 rpm (revolutions per minute) by using t
Probable cause
Inadequate preflight planning and preparation and failure to follow aircraft operating procedures and directives. Factors were high density altitude, inadequate training of the flight instructor and insufficient standards and requirements for flight instructor training in mountain flying.
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Browse: Colorado · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
