CEN20LA083
2020-02-12 · Broomfield, Colorado, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport BJC
Current FAA registration · N677P
- 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
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
FAA avdata. C = Cause, 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 ↗.
Search this event elsewhere
External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Runway Excursion — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary runway excursion review — RE-OE (overruns) + RE-LO (lateral). Risk drivers: long landing, high approach speed, contaminated surface, tailwind, mis-set autobrakes.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2019 · Accident report Embraer ERJ 175 Runway Excursion at Charlotte Douglas
Republic Airline ERJ-175 runway excursion CLT, January 2018. Examines a low-energy runway excursion involving misuse of autobrakes + thrust reverser response after a high-crosswind landing on a contam…
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Presentation Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper Uncovering Resilient Behavior in the Aviation Safety Reporting System Using Large Language Models
Resiliency is present in everyday life, both in system design and exhibited by the operators that function within these systems.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World Runway Safety Initiative Final Report (RSI)
Foundation Runway Safety Initiative final report — comprehensive analysis of runway excursion + incursion risk drivers worldwide.
- Semantic Scholar 2020 · Article Towards online prediction of safety-critical landing metrics in aviation using supervised machine learning
Abstract In recent years, due to the increased availability of data and improvements in computing power, application of machine learning techniques to various aviation safety problems for identifying,…