Beech E55 accident near Fort Collins, CO
On April 3, 2005, a Beech E55 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fort Collins, CO. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- April 3, 2005
- Place
- Fort Collins, CO
- Aircraft
- Beech E55 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 40.588°N, 105.042°W
- NTSB ID
- 20050412X00441
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On April 3, 2005, approximately 1450 mountain daylight time, a Beech E55, N3FJ, piloted by a private pilot, was destroyed when it departed controlled flight during an aborted (balked) landing or attempted go-around and impacted a parking lot and industrial building adjacent to the Fort Collins Downtown Airport (3V5), Fort Collins, Colorado. Day visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot, the sole occupant aboard, was fatally injured. The flight originated approximately 1420. The pilot had told his wife he was going to go fly. She reminded him they were having dinner with friends. He said he would be gone for about an hour. There were several witnesses who either saw or heard the airplane as it flew towards the airport. They said the engines were "running rough" (witnesses 1 and 5), "cutting out" (witness 2), "backfiring and sputtering" (witnesses 3 and 4), and flying level between 200 and 300 feet (witness 5) or 400 feet (witness 4). Witness 6, a flight instructor who had just taken off from the airport, said he heard the pilot report entering the traffic pattern. He said the pilot's voice was "calm, routine." Some witnesses said the airplane was landing; others thought it had just taken off. Witness 15 said the airplane was "way too low not to be landing," and was "quieter" than it had been when she saw it take off 30 minutes before. Others said the airplane was "high and extremely fast" (witnesses 8, 9,
Probable cause
the pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Contributing factors were the left engine loss of power for reasons undetermined, and the pilot allowing the airspeed to drop below Vmc during an attempted single-engine go-around.
More accidents in CO
- Mcdonnell Douglas DC-9-14, Nov 15, 1987
- Grumman Gulfstream III, Mar 30, 2001
- Beech 1900, Jan 28, 2026
- Douglas DC3, Mar 9, 2019
- Piper PA-31-350, Dec 3, 2014
Browse: Colorado · Beech 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.
