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DEN89LA103

1989-04-08 · CRESTED BUTTE, Colorado, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 3V6

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT SELECTED A RUNWAY WITH UNSUITABLE CONDITIONS FOR TAKING OFF. THE UNFAVORABLE WIND AND TERRAIN CONDITIONS WERE RELATED FACTORS.

Factual narrative

THE PLT & A FRIEND FLEW TO ANOTHER ARPT IN THE LOCAL AREA. AFTER ARRIVING AT THAT ARPT, THE PLT CHECKED THE WIND SOCK & ELECTED TO LAND ON RWY 11. DRG THE LANDING, THE ACFT ENCTRD SNOW ON THE RWY THAT WAS DEEPER THAN EXPECTED. DUE TO THE SLOPE OF THE RWY, THE PLT ELECTED TO TAKE OFF IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION (DOWNHILL) WITH A SLIGHT TAILWIND. THE ACFT BECAME AIRBORNE, BUT WOULD ONLY CLIMB ABOUT 5 FT. SUBSEQUENTLY, IT HIT A 6 FT SNOW BANK & NOSED OVER. THE PLT STATED THAT HE THOUGHT THE ACDNT OCCURRED DUE TO WIND GUSTS FROM BEHIND & THE ACFT HITTING DRIFTS THAT SLOWED IT DOWN. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_DEN89LA103.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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