NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DEN06CA088
Registry · N9709
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
GRUMMAN ACFT ENG COR-SCHWEIZER G-164A
Year of manufacture
1974 · 32 years old at event
Engine
P&W R1340 SERIES (600 hp)
Seats / Engines
1 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19740322
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S AD8738
Registrant of record
NOR WES INC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's failure to maintain directional control resulting in a ground loop. Contributing factors included the high winds and crosswind.
Factual narrative
According to the pilot, he was returning to the airport due to an approaching thunderstorm. The pilot entered traffic for runway 15, and while on final, noticed that the wind had shifted to favor runway 33. During the landing roll to runway 33 (3,400 feet by 60 feet, asphalt), the airplane encountered a gust of wind and the airplane ground looped. Both wings separated, the propeller was bent, and the horizontal stabilizer was crushed and wrinkled. The pilot reported no anomalies with the airframe or airplane systems. The closest official weather observation station was Uninta County Airport/Burns Field (EVW), Evanston, Wyoming, located 45 nautical miles south of the accident site. The routine aviation weather report (METAR) for EVW, issued at 1053, reported, winds, 230 degrees at 25 knots, gusting 31 knots. The pilot estimated the gust of wind at 40 knots. According to the pilot, he was returning to the airport due to an approaching thunderstorm. During the landing roll the airplane encountered a gust of wind and ground looped. Both wings separated, the propeller was bent, and the horizontal stabilizer was crushed and wrinkled. The pilot reported no anomalies with the airframe or airplane systems. The routine aviation weather report reported, winds, 230 degrees at 25 knots, gusting 31 knots. The pilot estimated the gust of wind at 40 knots. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2006_DEN06CA088.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
Beyond the agency record
Search this event elsewhere.
Pre-filled searches into the sources where news + community discussion of aviation events lives. External sources are reported, not agency. Treat them as signal that something happened, not as fact about what happened.
Entity-clustered aviation events in the press — last 24 hr + 30-day archive.
Official agency record + docket.
Investigative docket: factual reports, photos, transcripts.
Long-running aviation incident database (Flight Safety Foundation).
Community NTSB synthesis blog — often has photos and witness reports.
Gold-standard aviation incident blog.
Aviation industry news search.
GA pilot forum — informed but rumor-prone.
GA pilot subreddit search.
Tail-number page — flight history (free tier limited).
AOPA Air Safety Institute search.
Mainstream press coverage. Recent events only.
Privacy-preserving news search.
External links open in a new tab. We don't ingest their content; we deep-link search queries.
Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (thunderstorm). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2024 · Journal article (IJAAA)
The Impact of Thunderstorms on Take-off Data in South Africa
Aviation and meteorology are entwined disciplines, as aviation occurs in the atmosphere. Prevailing weather conditions at take-off are of utmost importance to aviation.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Technical Memorandum (TM)
Thunderstorm hazards flight research: Storm hazards 1980 overview
A highly instrumented NASA F-106B aircraft, modified for the storm hazards mission and protected against direct lightning strikes, was used in conjunction with various ground based radar and lightning…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Proceedings
Operational evaluation of thunderstorm penetration test flights during project Storm Hazards '80
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is conducting a research project called Storm Hazards '80 in order to study the prediction, detectability and avoidance of the hazards of severe storm…
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Nowcasting Thunderstorm Anvil Clouds Over KSC/CCAFS
Electrified thunderstorm anvil clouds extend the threat of natural and triggered lightning to space launch and landing operations far beyond the immediate vicinity of thunderstorm cells.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Contractor Report (CR)
An Examination of Aviation Accidents Associated with Turbulence, Wind Shear and Thunderstorm
The focal point of the study reported here was the definition and examination of turbulence, wind shear and thunderstorm in relation to aviation accidents.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Observations of severe turbulence near thunderstorm tops
Data derived from the flight tapes of two airliners that experienced severe turbulence near thunderstorm tops are used to produce quantitative descriptions of the turbulence and its environment.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗