Cessna 195 accident near Aspen, CO
On July 8, 2000, a Cessna 195 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Aspen, CO. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 8, 2000
- Place
- Aspen, CO
- Aircraft
- Cessna 195 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.240°N, 106.712°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X21427
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 8, 2000, at approximately 1120 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 195 single-engine airplane, N4377V, was destroyed when it collided with terrain while maneuvering 7.4 miles northeast of Aspen, Colorado. The airplane was registered to and operated by the airline transport pilot. The pilot and his three passengers received fatal injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a visual flight rules flight plan was filed, but not activated, for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The flight departed the Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE) at 1106, and was enroute to the Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado, at the time of the accident. According to family members, the pilot flew the airplane from the Front Range Airport to ASE earlier on the morning of the accident. After having breakfast at Aspen, the pilot and his passengers boarded the airplane for the return flight to Watkins. Radar data depicted the airplane departing ASE, flying north down the Roaring Fork River Valley, then turning right to fly southeast up the Woody Creek Valley. The last radar return (39 degrees 14 minutes and 47.3 seconds North and 106 degrees 49 minutes and 52.6 seconds West) depicted the airplane at 8,388 feet msl (approximately 148 feet above the terrain). On July 9, 2000, at 1630, a missing aircraft report was issued by the FAA based on family concerns when the aircraft did not arrive at the Front Range Airport. On July 10th at 0600, the Civil Air Patrol commenced an aerial search. Approximately 0745, the search airplanes found the accident
Probable cause
the pilot's poor in-flight decision to fly up a valley with rapidly rising terrain, which resulted in the airplane colliding with the terrain due to its climb performance being exceeded. A contributing factors was the high, rapidly rising, mountainous terrain.
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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.
