NTSB Identification: CEN13FA066
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, November 21, 2012 in Watkins, CO
Aircraft: Brian P North RAF SE5A Replica, registration: N17SE
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On October 21, 2012, about 1400 mountain standard time, a Brian P. North RAF SE5A replica experimental airplane, N17SE, owned by the pilot, was substantially damaged after impacting terrain near Watkins, Colorado. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, with no flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed Front Range Airport (FTG), Denver, Colorado at about 1355.
While departing from Runway 26 at FTG, witnesses noticed the airplane climbing at a slow rate. The pilot requested to return for a full stop landing from the air traffic control tower. While on downwind in the traffic pattern, a witness saw the airplane enter a spiral descent. The airplane impacted in a fallowed wheat field about 0.7 miles north of the Runway 26 threshold. A post impact fire ensued.
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 17SE Make/Model: EXP Description: EXP- SE5A
Date: 11/21/2012 Time: 2058
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: Fatal Mid Air: N Missing: N
LOCATION
City: WATKINS State: CO Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT CRASHED ATTEMPTING TO LAND AT FRONT RANGE AIRPORT, WATKINS, CO
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 1
# Crew: 0 Fat: 1 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
OTHER DATA
Activity: Pleasure Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: DENVER, CO (NM03) Entry date: 11/23/2012
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
A veteran RAF pilot who died after the biplane he was flying crashed in Colorado has been described by a friend as a "very dedicated family man".
Brian North, 72, from Parker, south of Denver, was flying a scaled down copy of a World War One-era SE 5a when it came down and caught fire near the Front Range Airport in Adams County on Wednesday.
Michael Buehner-Coldrey, who was also in the RAF and had flown the plane on its maiden flight, said: "Brian was a very good friend of mine, a clever guy, good with his hands.
"He left school at 15 and had a 35-year career in the RAF. He did an apprenticeship at RAF Halton near Aylesbury, and went on to become a wing commander, specializing in engineering, and travelled around working on Harriers.
"He received the MBE from the Queen for his services, and not many people have that.
"After retiring from the RAF, he worked for 10 years as an immigration officer at Heathrow."
Mr Buehner-Coldrey, from Aurora, Colorado, said Mr North had moved to the United States with his wife Adrienne "three or four years ago".
He said the couple had a daughter and a son and had celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary earlier this year.
"He was a very dedicated family man and very modest, with a dry sense of humour," the 67-year-old said.
Mr Buehner-Coldrey described the circumstances surrounding the crash as a "mystery" and said the plane, which used parts shipped from England and was only finished last month, had been in "perfect flying order".
"It was an absolutely beautiful day, there was no problem with the weather," he added. "It had to be something between man and machine."
Mr North had called the control tower on Wednesday afternoon and got clearance to perform a touch-and-go landing but then suddenly requested a normal landing.
He was heading for the runway but crashed about a mile north of it.
Dennis Heap, an airport official, said: "He was flying in a pattern one moment and down on the ground - crashed - the next moment. As far as I know there were no witnesses."
The crash will be investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
http://web.orange.co.uk
WATKINS, Colo. — The pilot of a small plane was killed when the aircraft crashed at Front Range Airport in Adams County Wednesday.
Airport spokesman Dennis Heap said the plane exploded when it went down about 500 feet from a runway.
The pilot was identified as retired wing commander Brian North. He was a veteran British pilot and member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.
Heap said the plane was practicing landing and take-offs called touch-and-gos when it crashed. The weather was good at the time, he said. “The tower got a call and it was garbled which would indicate there was maybe some electrical problem.”
North, who was in his 70s, had been rebuilding his plane for years. It was a replica of a “Gypsy Moth,” a model first built in the 1920s and flown during the two world wars.
Heap says North just started flying the plane about a month ago.
The cause of the crash won’t be clear until the NTSB completes its investigation.
“A deep loss for his family, and our thoughts and prayers go out to them,” Heap says. “But also a deep loss for the aviation community.”
Read more: http://kwgn.com
ADAMS COUNTY, Colo. - A small plane crashed and burned at Front Range Airport Wednesday afternoon, killing the pilot.
Airport officials said the plane went down just off Runway 26 around 2 p.m. and burst into flames upon impact.
The plane appeared to be completely burned.
The NTSB is investigating the cause of the crash, which happened just after the plane took off.
The pilot had requested to to "touch-and-go" landings and takeoffs at the airport, officials said. The tower also received a second, garbled, transmission before the crash, said Dennis Heap, Aviation Director at the airport.
The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was a replica of an RAF SE5a, a World War I-era British warplane.
Front Range Airport is located in Adams County, southeast of Denver International Airport, at 6500 Manila Rd.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com
DENVER — The pilot of a small plane was killed when the aircraft crashed at Front Range Airport in Adams County.
Airport spokesman Dennis Heap said the plane exploded when it crashed.
It’s not yet known what type of plane the pilot was flying or what may have caused it to crash.
Heap said the plane was practicing landing and take-offs called
touch-and-gos when it crashed. The weather was good at the time, he
said.
Front Range Airport is north of I-70 in between Watkins and Bennett.
