CEN11FA428

The pilot's inadvertent encounter with a microburst while operating at a low altitude, which resulted in a loss of control from which the pilot could not recover. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s inadequate preflight planning for the forecasted severe weather conditions.

Recorded radar information showed the airplane maneuvering at an altitude of about 500 to 600 feet above ground level and a groundspeed of about 110 knots. Several witnesses saw the airplane’s wings rock before the airplane entered a steep left bank diving turn toward the ground. This occurred about the same time that the wind on the ground began gusting. The airplane impacted the ground inverted, slightly nose-down in a near flat attitude and exploded and a postimpact fire ensued. A postaccident examination of the airplane showed no anomalies indicative of any systems problems prior to the accident. A study of weather conditions in the area at the time of the accident showed a fast moving thunderstorm cell over the area, which was capable of producing severe downdrafts indicative of a microburst. Flight Service Station records showed the pilot did not contact them for any services. Weather forecasts for the time-period the airplane was operating predicted fast moving thunderstorms with high wind gusts and the potential for low level wind shear and microburst conditions.

HISTORY OF FLIGHT On June 29, 2011, at 1523 mountain daylight time, a Cessna R182, N2344C, impacted an open field in Thornton, Colorado. The commercial pilot, the sole person on board the airplane, was fatally injured. A post impact fire ensued and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to Julair, LLC, doing business as All American Aerials, Incorporated, and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local flight which was being operated without a flight plan. The flight departed Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins, Colorado, approximately 1425. The pilot's wife said she spoke with him by telephone just before he took off. She said that the he told her that he was going to go up and "shoot a couple of thousand pictures." She said that he voiced no concerns abbout the weather or how his airplane was performing. Approach control radar recorded a track depicting a Visual Flight Rules 1200 code at the time and in the area where the airplane would have been. The radar track showed the airplane come out of FTG (elevation 5,516 feet), fly up to the Thornton area, and begin a series of turns. The airplane was operating at an altitude between 5,800 to 6,300 feet mean sea level (msl) and a groundspeed of approximately 110 knots. A review of radar information for the last 8 minutes of the flight, showed the airplane maneuvering just south of the E-470 toll way 2.23 miles northeast of the accident site at an altitude of 6,000 feet msl. The airplane made several orbits around the area of East 138th Court and Boston Street. At 1516:03, the airplane turned west to a heading of approximately 260 degrees. The airplane continued west at an approximate groundspeed of 112 knots until 1517:58, when the airplane made a left turn to the south. The airplane continued south on an approximate heading of 170 degrees for two and a half minutes until reaching 104th Avenue. The airplane turned northeast on an approximate 045 degree heading and continued northeast until 1521:03. The airplane then turned north and flew just east of Quebec Street at an altitude of 5,500 feet msl and a groundspeed of 94 knots until reaching 123rd Avenue. The airplane then made a left turn to the south. At 1521:54, the airplane disappeared from radar. The airplane’s last recorded altitude was 5,300 feet. Witnesses said the airplane was maneuvering over the Thornton area at a low altitude at the same time that high wind suddenly occurred on the surface. One witness said he saw the airplane’s wings “dipping” up and down, and the airplane suddenly banked steeply to the left before impacting the ground. Several witnesses said that after the airplane impacted the ground, it exploded and the fire started. PERSONNEL INFORMATION The pilot, age 41, held a commercial pilot certificate with single and multi engine land, instrument airplane ratings. The pilot reported on renewal of his pilot insurance policy on December 6, 2010, a total flying time of 18,000 hours and 8,200 hours in the Cessna 182. The policy renewal indicated the pilot successfully completed a flight review on July 5, 2011. Pilot logbooks were never recovered and were suspected destroyed in the airplane. The flight instructor who gave the pilot his last flight review said that that the pilot was a step above other pilots that he gave flight reviews to. He said that the day the pilot came to him for his flight review; the pilot told him that this was a checkride for him and he wanted to do everything that was in the Practical Test Standards for a private pilot. The pilot performed departure stalls, traffic pattern stalls, slow flight, turns around a point, and patterns and landings. The flight instructor said the pilot showed good knowledge and although he was not sure, thought he had some professional flight training. Federal Aviation Administration pilot medical records indicated the pilot completed a class 2 physical in April, 2010. A few days prior to the accident, the pilot spoke to another pilot that was based at Front Range Airport. The pilot told him that he was taking photographs of residential and commercial real estate from his airplane with a digital camera. The pilot told him that he had business in Colorado and had been in the area for about a week. The pilot told him how he flew the airplane and took photographs out of the pilot window at the same time. The pilot told him he had been doing it for some time and was pretty good at it. The pilot also told him of a time when while he was taking pictures, his airplane struck a guy wire. The pilot told him that it hit the wing just outside of the strut, but he was able to fly his airplane back and land it without incident. The pilot’s wife spoke to the pilot by cellular telephone approximately 10 minutes before the pilot took off. She said that he was in good spirits and did not indicate that he was concerned with the weather conditions or the airplane’s capabilities. She also said that he was in good health. AIRCRAFT INFORMATION The airplane was a 1978 Cessna model R182. Airframe and engine logbooks were not recovered and were suspected destroyed in the airplane. A review of work orders reflecting maintenance performed by a repair station at the pilot’s home airport in Marshfield, Wisconsin, dating back to May 2008, showed that an annual inspection was performed in April 2010. At the annual inspection, the airframe had 10,091.4 total hours. Minor maintenance was performed on the airplane by the repair station in June, September, and October 2010, and February and March 2011. The last work order, dated March 28, 2011, indicated the repair station cleaned, greased, and cycled the landing gear system and adjusted the rigging on the right nose landing gear door. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATION At 1534, the aviation routine weather report for Denver International Airport (DEN), 12 nautical miles east-southeast of the accident site was winds 190 at 15 knots gusting to 21 knots, visibility 10 miles, thunderstorm, scattered clouds at 8,000 feet msl, broken ceilings at 13,000 and 20,000 feet msl, temperature 32 degrees Celsius, dew point 1 degree Celsius, altimeter 29.99 inches, remarks; thunderstorm beginning 1532, rain beginning 1516 ending 1525, occasional lightning in the vicinity south, thunderstorm in the vicinity south moving northeast, hourly precipitation amount zero inches. The closest Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) reporting location to the accident site was Rocky Mountain Regional Airport (BJC). The TAF obtained for the accident time was issued at 1435 and was valid for a 21-hour period beginning at 1500. The TAF forecast for BJC expected wind from 350 degrees at 9 knots, visibility greater than 6 miles, scattered cumulonimbus clouds at 8,000 feet agl, and a broken ceiling at 15,000 feet. Thunderstorms were expected in the vicinity after 1600, with a temporary variable wind at 20 knots gusting to 35 knots, thunderstorm, and light rain, with a ceiling broken at 8,000 feet in cumulonimbus clouds. At 1038, the National Weather Service (NWS) Forecast Office in Boulder, Colorado, issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for central and eastern Colorado, which discussed a better chance for showers and thunderstorms developing during the afternoon with the main threat from these showers and thunderstorms being gusts to 50 miles per hour. At 1225, the NWS Forecast Office in Boulder, Colorado, issued an Area Forecast Discussion for eastern Colorado, which discussed high based convection expected to develop into the afternoon with gusts to 35 knots likely in and near any showers or thunderstorms. Higher gusts were possible based on dry adiabatic mixing and these stronger gusts could cause landing and takeoff delays. The Denver Center Weather Service Unit issues a Meteorolog