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Atlas / NTSB / CEN20LA083

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event CEN20LA083

2020-02-12 Broomfield, Colorado, United States Airport · BJC None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N677P

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

PIAGGIO P180

Year of manufacture

1992 · 28 years old at event

Engine

P&W PT6A SER (750 hp)

Seats / Engines

11 seats · 2 engines

Last airworthiness date

20030714

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A8F6FE

Registrant of record

JMC AIR LLC

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s loss of directional control on the snow-covered runway, which resulted in a runway excursion.

Factual narrative

On February 12, 2020, about 2115 mountain standard time, a Piaggio P180, N677P, went off the left side of runway 30R after landing at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC), Broomfield, Colorado. The private pilot and his three passengers were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to JMC Air, LLC, Dillsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated by the pilot under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. Night instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed. The flight originated from Bob Hope Airport (BUR), Burbank, California, at 1745 Pacific standard time, and was destined for BJC. According to the pilot's statement, the control tower advised that there was packed snow on the runway and moderate braking was reported. The approach was made at 130 knots (Vref +10). He observed the runway lights at 6,800 ft and touched down smoothly about 112 knots. When the nose wheel touched down, the airplane yawed to the left. Right rudder was applied, but the airplane continued to drift left of centerline. Both propellers were in beta range, and he placed the right propeller into reverse in an attempt to move the nose to the right. Brakes were also applied but to no avail. The airplane slid on the surface and departed the left side of the runway and skidded through the snow. The airplane spun in the snow and the right wing tip and canard contacted the ground. Post-accident examination revealed both nose gear tires were deflated and the right main tire was low on air. The right aileron was also damaged. The pilot did not report any pre-accident mechanical malfunction or anomaly with the airplane that may have contributed to the accident. The private pilot was making an instrument approach at night in instrument meteorological conditions. The control tower advised that packed snow and moderate braking were reported on the runway. The pilot reported that the approach was on speed and the airplane initially touched down smoothly. When the nosewheel touched down, the airplane yawed to the left, and the pilot’s efforts to maintain directional control were not successful. The airplane slid on the surface, departed the left side of the runway, and spun around, then the right wing tip and canard contacted the ground, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing, canard, and aileron. Postaccident examination revealed both nose gear tires were deflated, and the right main tire had low air pressure. However, the pilot did not report any pre-accident mechanical malfunction or anomaly with the airplane that may have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface-Snow/slush/ice covered surface-Effect on operation
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Surface speed/braking-Not attained/maintained

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2020_CEN20LA083.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Related research

What the literature says.

Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.

Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗