Cessna 172 N370SP

Summary

On 20 February 2020 at about 18:00 local time, a Cessna 172 registered N370SP, operated by Rocky Mountain Flight Consultants Llc, was involved in an accident near Boulder, Colorado, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 February 2020 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Boulder, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Boulder Muni (BDU)

Coordinates

40.0400, -105.2300

Aircraft

Cessna 172

Registration

N370SP

Category

Airplane

Year built

2003

Engines

1

Operator

Rocky Mountain Flight Consultants Llc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Boulder → Boulder

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN20CA094

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's loss of directional control during the landing roll on the slush-covered runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed from a snow-packed runway, flew locally for about 2 hours, and then returned to land. The pilot stated that, while in the traffic pattern preparing to land, the runway still appeared to be snow-packed like it was during the departure. However, the runway was actually slush covered with patches of ice due to the morning sun melting the previously hard snow, and the airplane veered left during the landing roll. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the airplane subsequently impacted a snowbank on the edge of the runway and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings and the vertical stabilizer.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.