Cessna A185F accident near Grand Junction, CO
On March 27, 2003, a Cessna A185F (airplane) was involved in an accident near Grand Junction, CO. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 27, 2003
- Place
- Grand Junction, CO
- Aircraft
- Cessna A185F · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.149°N, 108.415°W
- NTSB ID
- 20030403X00427
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 26, 2003, at 1817 mountain standard time, a Cessna A185F, N53008, was destroyed when it impacted terrain approximately 20 miles east of Grand Junction, Colorado. The commercial 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 Walker Field, Grand Junction, Colorado, at 1812, and was en route to Eagle, Colorado. According to employees at Timberline Aviation, the pilot landed at the airport between 1600 and 1630. He and his passengers left by automobile and were gone for about an hour. When they returned, they loaded a fiberglass shower enclosure into the airplane. At 1810:10, the pilot contacted ground control for taxi clearance. He was given his choice of runways 29 or 22 because the wind was from 230 degrees to 280 degrees at 24 knots. The pilot said he would taxi "half way down two nine and we'll take a look." At 1811:29, the pilot requested and was cleared for takeoff on runway 29 from the taxiway A4 intersection. [According to the controller, 5100 feet of runway was available for takeoff from the A4 intersection.] He was given his choice of a left or right turn to the northeast. The pilot said, "Let's see what the wind does here." The tower controller said that during the takeoff roll, the airplane drifted off the right side of the runway and stirred up a cloud of dust. Witnesses at Timberline Aviation said they, too, saw the dust cloud, but thought it was due to propeller was
Probable cause
the pilot's poor judgment and his failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing factors were the high winds and downdrafts, and the pilot's self-induced pressure to go home.
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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.
