Cessna 172 N6199E

Summary

On 17 February 2013 at about 01:02 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N6199E, operated by Shannon Lee Greene, was involved in an accident near Akron, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 February 2013 at 01:02

Classification

Accident

Location

Akron, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Colorado Plains Regional Airpo (KAKO)

Coordinates

40.1756, -103.2197

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N6199E

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Shannon Lee Greene

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Akron → Akron

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CEN13LA166

2 people had minor injuries.

The pilot’s physical impairment due to alcohol intoxication, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall during landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

A law enforcement officer observed the airplane in the airport traffic pattern just after sunset. The officer continued to monitor the movements of the airplane as it flew around the airport and returned to land. After losing sight of the airplane for a moment, the officer observed the airplane in a nose-down attitude on the runway and on fire. According to the pilot’s initial statement, he was flying the final leg of the traffic pattern when the airplane stalled about 10 feet above the runway. The airplane impacted the runway and then caught fire. In a subsequent statement provided by the pilot, he stated that at 10 feet above the ground everything was normal but then the airplane suddenly nosed down and crashed. Such an abrupt loss of altitude is consistent with an aerodynamic stall. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot was taken to the local sheriff’s office where he underwent a breath alcohol test. The reported value was .078 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. Federal Aviation Administration regulations prohibit any person from acting or attempting to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft while having 0.040 grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. The level of ethanol measured in this case would have significantly impaired the pilot’s performance.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.