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DEN90FA109

1990-05-19 · TELLURIDE, Colorado, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport TEX

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FFAILURE TO MAINTAIN FLYING SPEED WHICH RESULTED IN A STALL. FACTOR WAS WIND SHEAR REPORTED OFF DEPARTURE END OF RWY.

Factual narrative

AFTER HAVING DISCUSSED THE LOCAL ADVERSE WIND CONDITIONS NEAR THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY WITH AIRPORT OPERATION PERSONNEL, THE PRIVATE PILOT ELECTED TO ATTEMPT THE FLIGHT. HE SAID THAT DURING HIS TAKEOFF CLIMB HE UNEXPECTEDLY ENCOUNTERED A VERY STRONG DOWNDRAFT. IN AN ATTEMPT TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE, THE AIRCRAFT STALLED AND COLLIDED WITH THE GROUND. DESPITE WARNING FROM AIRCRAFT PERSONNEL, THE PILOT STATED BEFORE THE FLIGHT THAT HE SHOULD ATTEMPT TO CLIMB OVER ADVERSE WINDS RATHER THAN MAINTAIN ADDITIONAL AIRSPEED. THE AIRPLANE WAS VERY NEAR MAXIMUM GROSS WEIGHT AND THE PILOT USED 20 DEGREES OF FLAPS, INSTEAD OF THE RECOMMENDED 10. THE PILOT WAS AWARE OF A BOOKLET AT THE AIRPORT WARNING OF HAZARDOUS WIND CONDITIONS, ESPECIALLY WHEN WINDS WERE SOUTHERLY IN EXCESS OF 10 M.P.H. DENSITY ALTITUDE WAS 10,760 FEET. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN90FA109.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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