NTSB DEN91FA017 — 1990-11-12 · ASPEN, Colorado, United States

N732DS has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (DIAMOND AIRCRAFT DA 40, built 2006), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

N732DS Cessna T210L Fatal

Probable cause & findings

IMPROPER PLANNING/DECISION BY THE PILOT AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE AIRSPEED, WHILE TURNING OVER HIGH TERRAIN BESIDE THE AIRPORT, WHICH RESULTED IN AN INADVERTENT STALL. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: EXCESSIVE GROSS WEIGHT OF THE AIRCRAFT, HIGH DENSITY ALTITUDE, THE TERRAIN, AND LACK OF AVAILABLE ALTITUDE TO RECOVER FROM THE STALL.

Factual narrative

THE AIRPLANE WAS CLEARED FOR TAKEOFF AT 1215:00, AND THE CONTROLLER ASKED THE PILOT IF HE WOULD BE DEPARTING TO THE SOUTHWEST OR IF HE WOULD BE PROCEEDING TO THE NORTH AND DOWN THE VALLEY. THE PILOT ANSWERED BY GIVING HIS CALL SIGN ONLY. THE CONTROLLER OBSERVED WHAT APPEARED TO BE A NORMAL TAKEOFF, THEN HIS ATTENTION WAS DIVERTED TO OTHER TRAFFIC. WHEN HE SAW THE AIRPLANE AGAIN, IT WAS IN A STEEP LEFT TURN. THE AIRPLANE CRASHED IN A SLIGHTLY INVERTED ATTITUDE ABOUT 1/4 MILE WEST OF THE AIRPORT. NO EVIDENCE WAS FOUND OF AN AIRFRAME, ENGINE, PROPELLER, OR SYSTEM FAILURE/MALFUNCTION. HIGH MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN SURROUNDED THE AIRPORT. THE AIRPLANE WAS ESTIMATED TO BE 80 TO 90 LBS OVER ITS MAX GROSS WEIGHT LIMIT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_DEN91FA017.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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