Cessna T337G accident near Palmer Lake, CO
On October 28, 2001, a Cessna T337G (airplane) was involved in an accident near Palmer Lake, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 28, 2001
- Place
- Palmer Lake, CO
- Aircraft
- Cessna T337G · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.174°N, 104.971°W
- NTSB ID
- 20011109X02221
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 27, 2001, at 2006 mountain daylight time, a Cessna T337G, N45E, was destroyed during impact with terrain near Palmer Lake, Colorado. The instrument rated private pilot, the sole occupant in the airplane, was fatally injured. The flight was being conducted under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local, night flight that originated at 1905 from Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado. The pilot had not filed a flight plan. The pilot's wife said the purpose of his flight was to practice instrument approaches in preparation for an instrument proficiency check ride, for insurance purposes, on October 29, 2001. She said she was planning to fly with him as a safety pilot (which she frequently did), but on this day he wanted to fly alone. The pilot told her that he would not wear a visual restricting device (for instrument training), but "he would turn the cabin lights up bright" to restrict his external vision. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Denver TRACON (Terminal Radar Approach Control) voice tape indicates that the pilot said "I will be airborne for a couple of hours, and I'd like to practice various approaches." The controller told him to squawk 5230 (a VFR discreet code with no associated MSAW [minimum safe altitude warning] capability) and climb to 8,500 feet msl (mean sea level). He was then cleared to fly the full ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach to runway 35R. The pilot flew two complete ILS approaches; his first clearance was at 1918 and his second clearance was at 1936. During the fir
Probable cause
the pilot intentionally restricting his external vision (turning his cabin lights up bright to practice night instrument approaches), and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance of the mountain. A contributing factor was the Air Traffic Controller’s failure to provide appropriate safety alerts for rising 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.
