Skip to content

Atlas / NTSB / DEN73FTE40

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event DEN73FTE40

1972-12-18 AURORA, Colorado, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N3918U

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

CESSNA 150E

Engine

CONT MOTOR O-470 SERIES (230 hp)

Seats / Engines

2 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19650401

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A48A03

Registrant of record

SUTTON GARY K

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Historical record (pre-1982)

NTSB recorded this accident in the pre-1982 coded-field schema — structured fields rather than free-text narrative. Decoded codes use established NTSB single-letter taxonomies; cause factors remain verbatim pending the Form 6120.4 codebook lookup.

Aircraft

CESSNA 150E · N3918U

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Airplane

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

Cruise — descent (EF)

Operator type

Personal/private

Airport

SKY RANCH

Kind of flying

A1

Weather at impact

Sky

BROKEN

Wind

260° / 10 kt

Temp

45° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000015061318

Total time

3,109 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Airline transport

Total hours

47

Age

25

Cause factors

  • 64/C/79 C
    PILOT IN COMMAND FAILED TO MAINTAIN DIRECTIONAL CONTROL Cause
  • 80/L/BC L
    AIRPORTS/AIRWAYS/FACILITIES SNOW ON RUNWAY

Decoded against the NTSB Form 6120.4 cause-factor codebook (ct_Pre1982 table). Each row shows the raw triplet, modifier (Cause / Factor / etc.), category, and specific code.

Source: NTSB pre-1982 historical archive. Docket 3 3905. Source file NTSB_1972_3_3905.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.