Piper PA-31-350 N35533

Summary

On 28 October 1998 at about 15:58 local time, a Piper PA-31-350 registered N35533 was involved in an accident near Hayden, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 October 1998 at 15:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Hayden, Colorado, United States

Coordinates

40.4904, -106.8300

Aircraft

Piper PA-31-350

Registration

N35533

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Colorado Sprgs → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN99FA016

1 person died.

The pilot not following instrument procedures and subsequently descended to minimums prematurely. Factors were the mountainous terrain and the falling snow.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Part 135 cargo flight was approaching its destination on an IFR flight plan. The pilot had requested the ILS-DME approach to runway 10, but 2 minutes later, he changed his request to the VOR-B approach to runway 28. ARTCC cleared him for the approach to the non-towered airport. The pilot contacted the airport's Unicom, and requested that the ramp personnel be standing by with fuel and oxygen. The airplane was found 5.8 nm from the approach end of runway 28, at 7,900 feet. The approach minimums for the VOR-B was 7,900 feet, which the pilot could descend to at 8.7 nm. The VOR was located 285 degrees at 13.6 nm from the accident site, and the ILS-DME transmitter was located 285 degrees at 5.6 nm from the accident site. The airplane was equipped with a single DME display head, and it had a Nav 1/Nav 2 selector switch.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.