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NTSB: Loss of engine power caused fatal plane crash
Photo courtesy KMGH-TV
A single-engine Cessna 182H went down en route to Boulder in Miner's Gulch, four miles west of Black Hawk, on Thursday, killing the pilot. The plane is registered to Barry Maggert, of Carbondale, and Carroll Winkler, of Glenwood Springs.
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A fatal airplane crash last week near Black Hawk -- an accident that killed a University of Colorado student's father -- was caused by a partial loss of engine power, according to a preliminary report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash killed the pilot, Barry Maggert, 47, of Carbondale, and injured the passenger, Jonathan Holton, 23. They were on their way to Boulder to watch one of Maggert's sons, Lee Maggert, graduate from CU when the single-engine Cessna 182 went down May 8.
Holton told investigators that the engine started sputtering after they passed over Eagle County Airport at 16,000 feet above sea level. Maggert radioed the Federal Aviation Administration to report engine troubles about 15 miles southwest of Boulder.
He attempted to troubleshoot the problem by adjusting the air-fuel mixture, but the plane soon began to descend in a nose dive, the report said. It crashed at 10,400 feet in the mountains about four miles west of Black Hawk.
Problems with the air-fuel ratio are a possible cause of engine failure, according to Jason Aguilera, air safety investigator for the NTSB based in Arlington, Texas. But the NTSB will not be able to confirm the crash's probable cause for several months or possibly a year.
"We haven't completed all of the investigation," Aguilera said. "There were parts of the airplane that we weren't able to examine on scene."
The preliminary report found that both wings of the Cessna were heavily damaged but remained attached to the plane. Upon recovery, the wreckage will be transported to a facility for further examination.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Jennifer Bronson at JEBronson@gmail.com.
Posted by nuggethillrd on May 16, 2008 at 1:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Loss of engine power is a very common cause of aircraft falling out of the sky, and a common cause of that is carburetor or engine air inlet icing, which happens in cool moist weather, which this was. Pilots are trained to watch out for it, and what to do when it exists, but conditions are never the same. My heart goes out to the pilot's family.
Posted by UncleEthan on May 16, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I, too, am sorry for the pilot and his family.
But, airplanes, especially Cessna 182s, don't just fall out of the sky. They have glide capabilities with no power. And the most common cause of engine "failure" is running out of fuel.
Granted, all the facts aren't out and it's a bad idea to second guess the pilot's judegment, but if the engine started sputtering over the Eagle County Airport, then he should not have continued in flight. He could started a gradual gliding descent from 16,000' using some time to try and troubleshoot. If that didn't work, he might have been able to make an emergency landing at Eagle County.
Of course, this is all speculation until more of the details are known.
Posted by nuggethillrd on May 16, 2008 at 10:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Uncle, though it's not a streamlined piano, a Cessna is not a competition sailplane either. And, loaded with luggage as it probably was going to a graduation, it's glide ratio was even less. As it appears obvious you have some knowledge of aviation, surely you know 'wouldashouldacouldas' don't count much when you're flying, especially over mountains. They only count after the fact, to prevent another similar incident from happening again. Yes, the pilot should have made a precautionary landing at Eagle, but he didn't. And, Eagle is not the easiest airport to land in. Unfortunately, his error cost him his life. Maybe, if other pilots learn from it, it will not be totally in vain.
Posted by UncleEthan on May 16, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Posted by nuggethillrd: "Maybe, if other pilots learn from it, it will not be totally in vain."
We agree about that. We also don't know how much or any mountain flying experience the pilot had. Unfortunately, too many pilots don't treat the mountains with the necessary respect.
Posted by boulder_native on May 16, 2008 at 3:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
NHR is right, the old 182H (1965) is carbuerated and the most likely cause is icing, expecially since he was in the descent phase of flight having crossed the divide. Maybe he forgot to use the carb heat, maybe he did and did not give it time to work, since it actually makes it worse at first, or maybe the heater was on the fritz.
The old 182s had alternate air if that was the cause, same applies to above.
He must have done a pretty damn good job of gliding in if his passenger survived, so no criticism is warrented there. The writer can be faulted for emphasizing the "dive" that never really took place, it was a glide.
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