Bell EAA BIPLANE P accident near Manzanola, CO
On October 2, 1996, a Bell EAA BIPLANE P (airplane) was involved in an accident near Manzanola, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 2, 1996
- Place
- Manzanola, CO
- Aircraft
- Bell EAA BIPLANE P · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 38.100°N, 103.860°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001208X06866
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 2, 1996, approximately 1615 mountain daylight time, a Darol EAA Biplane P, N145DB, was destroyed when it impacted terrain while maneuvering two miles west of Manzanola, Colorado. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated at Manzanola, Colorado, approximately 15 minutes before the accident. There were three known witnesses to the accident Witness no. 1 said the airplane flew east over his airstrip at an estimated altitude of 300 to 400 feet agl (above ground level). He said the pilot started "what appeared to be an aileron roll, but stopped halfway and peeled off to the left in a shallow dive but didn't have enough altitude to pull out." Witness no. 2 said the pilot "began rolling the aircraft right wing down about 3/4 of a roll, then the front of the plane dropped and...the aircraft (dove) belly side facing me (and) disappear behind a slope to our west." Witness no. 3 could not add substantively to the other witness' accounts. PERSONNEL INFORMATION According to the pilot's logbook, 725.0 hours of his 739.1 total flight hours were in single engine airplanes, and 494.8 hours were in conventional landing gear airplanes. He had 384.6 total aerial application hours. He was employed by C&L Flying Service, and aerial applicator, of Rocky Ford, Colorado, on March 28, 1996. According to a C&L sokesman, this was the pilot's first spraying season, having recently graduated from Sam Riggs Aerial Applica
Probable cause
failure of the pilot to maintain sufficient altitude/clearance above the terrain, while performing a low altitude maneuver. A factor relating to the accident was the pilot's lack of familiarity with this make and model of aircraft.
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Browse: Colorado · Bell 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.
