Vans RV4 accident near Telluride, CO
On November 26, 2020, a Vans RV4 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Telluride, CO. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- November 26, 2020
- Place
- Telluride, CO
- Aircraft
- Vans RV4 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 37.949°N, 107.889°W
- NTSB ID
- 20201127102340
Official records · CEN21LA067
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn November 26, 2020, about 1259 mountain standard time, a Vans RV4 airplane, N87LW, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Telluride, Colorado. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the airport manager for the Telluride Regional Airport (TEX), the pilot told an employee with the fixed base operator (FBO) at the airport that he intended to fly from TEX to Durango-La Plata County Airport (DRO), Durango, Colorado, to retrieve a passenger and then return to TEX. According to automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data, at 1125, the airplane departed TEX on runway 27 and flew direct to DRO and landed on runway 3 at 1150. At 1229, the airplane departed DRO on runway 3 and proceeded north back toward TEX, as shown in figure 1. About 1256:39, the airplane turned onto a left downwind for runway 27 at TEX. A FBO employee at TEX reported that she was monitoring the airport’s UNICOM frequency when the pilot transmitted that he was on the downwind leg for runway 27. The FBO employee told the pilot to park in the hangar after landing and the pilot replied “cool.” Further review of the recorded ADS-B data indicated that the airplane entered the traffic pattern while descending through 10,000 ft mean sea level (msl) and flew the downwind leg about 1 statute mile (sm) south of the runway 27 centerline, as shown in figure 2 and figure 3. The airplane continued to descend about 250 feet per minute (ft/min) during the downwi
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed during the turn from the base leg to final approach, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and entering an inadvertent aerodynamic stall/spin at a low altitude over mountainous terrain.
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Browse: Colorado · Vans 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.
