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DEN93LA057

1993-05-13 · DURANGO, Colorado, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 5CO0

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

AN INADVERTENT STALL. A FACTOR WAS: DOWNDRAFTS AND THE PILOT'S CONTINUED FLIGHT INTO KNOWN ADVERSE WEATHER.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT OBSERVED SCATTERED CLOUDS, VIRGA, RAIN AND LIGHTNING APPROACHING WHEN HE WAS 10 MILES SOUTH OF THE AIRPORT, AND UNICOM ADVISED THE WIND WAS FROM THE NORTH AT 20 KNOTS. THE AIRPLANE ENTERED PRECIPITATION AND ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT, BUT THE PILOT RECOVERED BY APPLYING MODERATE ENGINE POWER AND REMAINING HIGH AND FAST. THE PILOT REPORTED THAT AS HE CONTINUED HIS APPROACH TO RUNWAY 1, THE AIRPLANE ENTERED A VERTICAL WIND SHEAR AND LOST SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET. THE PILOT SAID THE AIRPLANE WAS BELOW THE AIRPORT ELEVATION (THE AIRPORT SITS ATOP A MESA), AND HE ADDED FULL POWER AND PULLED THE NOSE UP. THE AIRPLANE CLEARED BOULDERS AND TREES AT THE EDGE OF THE MESA, THEN THE STALL WARNING SOUNDED. TWO PASSENGERS AND A WITNESS SAID THE AIRPLANE STALLED. THE AIRPLANE STRUCK THE RUNWAY AND SLID 30 FEET BEFORE COMING TO A HALT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1993_DEN93LA057.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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