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Atlas / NTSB / DEN82FA009

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event DEN82FA009

1981-11-20 COKEVILLE, Wyoming, United States None 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N4261E

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

MAULE MX-7-180AC

Year of manufacture

2000

Engine

LYCOMING O&VO-360 SER (180 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

20000531

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A51469

Registrant of record

CONGER JON W

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

AEROSPATIAL SA316B · N4261E

Damage

Substantial

Craft type

Balloon

Classification

Accident

Light condition

Dawn

Weather

VMC

Phase of flight

EH

Operator type

E

Kind of flying

CI

Weather at impact

Sky

CLEAR

Wind

270° / 15 kt

Temp

25° F

Aircraft history

Serial number

000000001592

Total time

5,336 hrs

Pilot

Certificate

Commercial

Total hours

6,020

Age

35

Probable cause (from PRE1982.MDB)

PP FAST,APPROX 50-100FT UP LIFT DISAPPEARED.

Investigator remarks

WND GUSTS TO 20 KTS.D/A APPROX 9500FT.PLT STTD A

Cause factors

  • 64/A/27 A
    PILOT IN COMMAND IMPROPER IN-FLIGHT DECISIONS OR PLANNING Cause — pilot/personnel action
  • 88/J/AQ J
    MISCELLANEOUS ACTS,CONDITIONS DOWNWIND Joint cause
  • 82/J/W J
    WEATHER HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE Joint cause

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 3635. Source file NTSB_1981_3_3635.txt. Modern CAROL record on data.ntsb.gov ↗.