NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN03LA118
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's improper in-flight planning/decision and his failure to maintain aircraft control. Factors contributing to the accident were the high altitude on base turn and final approach, the low airspeed, the pilot's improper use of flaps, the inadvertent stall, the pilot's failure to recover from the bounced landing, the gusting crosswinds, and the high density altitude.
Factual narrative
On June 29, 2003, approximately 1530 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 210K, N8264M, piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when it departed the right side of runway 01 (5,010 feet by 50 feet, dry asphalt) while landing at the Durango-Animas Air Park (00C), Durango, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal cross-country flight was being conducted on an instrument flight rules flight plan under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91. The commercial pilot received minor injuries. The flight departed Grand Island, Nebraska, approximately 1200 central daylight time. In his written statement, the pilot said he was making a right-hand traffic pattern for landing on runway 01. The pilot said as he was coming in, his altitude was high. The pilot said, "I put on full flaps and [the] descent increased to the point [that] I decided to go around. The plane continued to descend and the stall horn started to sound. I reduced [the] flaps to 10 deg[rees] and then bounced off [the] rw (runway) where a 90 degree crosswind turned the plane towards a hangar." The pilot said he turned the airplane back toward the runway, but "it wouldn't fly and fell to the ground." An examination of the airplane showed substantial damage to the firewall, horizontal stabilizer, and right wing spar. Flight control continuity was confirmed. An examination of the engine, engine controls, and other airplane systems revealed no anomalies. At the time of the accident, the winds recorded at the Durango-La Plata County Airport, 120 degrees at 7 miles from 00C, were 270 degrees at 18 knots, gusting to 21 knots. The density altitude was determined as 9,942 feet msl. The pilot said he was making a right-hand traffic pattern for landing on runway 01. The pilot said as he was coming in, his altitude was high. The pilot said, "I put on full flaps and [the] descent increased to the point [that] I decided to go around. The plane continued to descend and the stall horn started to sound." The pilot raised the flaps to 10 degrees and then bounced off the runway. The pilot said a crosswind turned his airplane toward a hangar. The pilot said he turned the airplane back toward the runway, but "it wouldn't fly and fell to the ground." An examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies. At the time of the accident, the winds recorded at the Durango-La Plata County Airport, 120 degrees at 7 miles from the accident site were 270 degrees at 18 knots, gusting to 21 knots. The density altitude was determined as 9,942 feet msl. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2003_DEN03LA118.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper
Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Automating Bird Diverter Installation through Multi-Aerial Robots and Signal Temporal Logic Specifications
This paper tackles the task assignment and trajectory generation problem for bird diverter installation using a fleet of multi-rotors.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Variation of Critical Crystallization Pressure for the Formation of Square Ice in Graphene Nanocapillaries
Two-dimensional square ice in graphene nanocapillaries at room temperature is a fascinating phenomenon and has been confirmed experimentally.
- arXiv 2023 · arXiv preprint
Polycrystallinity enhances stress build-up around ice
Damage caused by freezing wet, porous materials is a widespread problem, but is hard to predict or control. Here, we show that polycrystallinity makes a great difference to the stress build-up process…
- arXiv 2022 · arXiv preprint
Enhanced Prediction of Three-dimensional Finite Iced Wing Separated Flow Near Stall
Icing on three-dimensional wings causes severe flow separation near stall. Standard improved delayed detached eddy simulation (IDDES) is unable to correctly predict the separating reattaching flow due…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2021 · Journal article (JAAER)
Analysis on the Negative Emotional, Physiological, and Cognitive Responses Elicited from of the Activation of a Stall Alarm
Failing to identify an aerodynamic stall can lead to the inability of an aircraft to sustain flight. To warn pilots of an impending or fully-developed stall, many aircraft have safety devices installe…
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