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DEN90FA043

1990-01-17 · LEADVILLE, Colorado, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

DIVERSION OF THE PILOT'S ATTENTION, RESULTING IN AN IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TERRAIN DURING NORMAL CRUISE FLIGHT.

Factual narrative

PM AIR FLT 824, A FEDERAL EXPRESS SCHEDULED DOMESTIC CARGO FLT, DEPARTED DENVER, CO, AT 0642, IFR TO MONTROSE, CO. FLT WAS CLEARED TO FL 180, BUT PLT CANCELLED IFR AT 0653. RADAR SHOWED ACFT LEVELED OFF AT 14,500 FT ON SW HEADING. ACFT MAINTAINED RELATIVE CONSTANT ALT AND HEADING BEFORE CRASHING 50 FT BELOW SUMMIT OF 14,221-FT MT MASSIVE, SECOND TALLEST PEAK IN CO, AT APRX 0719. WX WAS CAVU. TOXICOLOGICAL TESTS REVEALED MARIJUANA METABOLITE LEVEL OF 37 NG/ML IN URINE AND 1 NG/ML IN BLOOD. PLT WAS ONCE CONVICTED IN 1974 FOR POSSESSION OF CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE, BUT HAD NO OTHER ALCOHOL/DRUG CONVICTIONS. EVIDENCE INDICATES PLT OBTAINED ADEQUATE SLEEP PRIOR TO FLT. DURING AUTOPSY, TWO PAGES FROM AIRMEN'S INFORMATION MANUAL WERE FOUND CLUTCHED IN PLT'S HANDS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90FA043.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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