Tubbs S/Performance Air INC PA18-225 accident near Denver, Colorado, August 20, 2010
On August 20, 2010 at about 4:40 pm local time, a Tubbs S/Performance Air INC PA18-225, an amateur-built aircraft,, registered N755K, was substantially damaged in an accident during landing (landing roll) near Denver, Colorado (Centennial airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during landing.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 20, 2010 · about 4:40 pm local time
- Place
- Denver, Colorado · Centennial · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Tubbs S/Performance Air INC PA18-225, amateur-built
- Registration
- N755K · registry record · serial PA 0105
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot reported that the tailwheel on her single-engine airplane had just undergone maintenance to alleviate a shimmy and was told to practice some touch-and-go landings to see if the problem had been alleviated. The pilot did several landings and said the shimmy had improved but was not completely gone. However, on the sixth landing, the pilot landed on the tailwheel, which resulted in an "extreme and violent" shimmy. The airplane veered to the right and the pilot tried to correct for it by applying pressure to just one brake. The airplane continued to veer off the runway, so the pilot applied both brakes and the airplane flipped over, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing strut and rudder. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical problems and that the accident could have been prevented if she kept the airplane on the runway.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
What happened, in order
- Loss of control on ground during landing (landing roll) defining event
The NTSB's findings
- cause Personnel issues › Task performance › Use of equip/info › Aircraft control › Pilot
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability › Performance/control parameters › (general) › Not attained/maintained
Pilot
- Certificate: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 700 hours in all; 30 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (without waivers/limitations)
The aircraft
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-360 SERIES (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: APA Denver CO
- Destination: APA Denver CO
- Flight plan: not recorded
- Runway 17R
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N755K the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number CEN10CA488.