Cessna 172P accident near Leadville, Colorado, December 14, 2000
On December 14, 2000 at about 4:20 pm local time, a Cessna 172P, registered N127FR, was substantially damaged in an accident near Leadville, Colorado (Lake County Airport). It was an instructional 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).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the student pilot's failure to maintain directional control during landing roll. A contributing factor was the snow bank next to the runway.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 14, 2000 · about 4:20 pm local time
- Place
- Leadville, Colorado · Lake County Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172P · all 172Ps on the register
- Registration
- N127FR · registry record · serial 17275297
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot said that this was his first solo flight, and he was performing a stop-and-go landing. He said that during the landing roll, he let the airplane drift to the left allowing the left main wheel to impact a snow bank beside the runway. The airplane cartwheeled to the left bending both wing spars.
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
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 20 hours in all; 20 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 3
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 2,400 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-320-D2J (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Leadville Airport, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: LXV at 4:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 34, 6,400 ft by 75 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,400 ft
- Temperature: 70°F (21°C), dew point 46°F (8°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 3:56 pm from LXV
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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.
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 DEN01LA024.