Piper PA-28-161 accident near Meeker, CO
On May 29, 2001, a Piper PA-28-161 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Meeker, CO. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 29, 2001
- Place
- Meeker, CO
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-28-161 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.775°N, 107.369°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010612X01151
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 29, 2001, approximately 1525 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28-161, N5999V, was destroyed when it impacted water and sank to the bottom of Upper Marvine Lake, approximately 32 nautical miles east of Meeker, Colorado. The private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91.The flight originated at Meeker, Colorado, approximately 1500, and was en route to Jefferson County Airport, Broomfield, Colorado. According to Nevada-Cal Aero Flying Service documents, the pilot joined the Reno-based flying club on May 27, 2001. A flight instructor was assigned to administer a "club checkout" to "access (sic) the pilot proficiency for insurance purposes." The pilot told the instructor that most of his flight time had been accrued in Cessna 152s and 172s, and that he had never flown the PA-28-161. The instructor told him that the PA-28-161 was normally powered by a 160 horsepower engine, "but because of density altitude considerations," the airplane had been upgraded to a 180 horsepower engine. He was also told that the PA-28-161 "was not a 4 place airplane and under no circumstances [was he] to place 4 adults into this plane." The pilot was also told that in addition to the club checkout, he would need to log an additional 5 hours of "local flying time" before he could fly the airplane cross-country. The pilot said that he had scheduled the airplane on May 29 for that purpose. The checkout was satisfactory and th
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain terrain clearance as a result of his drug induced impairment. A factor was his exceeding the airplane's gross weight limits.
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Browse: Colorado · Piper 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.
