Cessna 172K accident near Boulder, Colorado, January 5, 2002
On January 5, 2002 at about 10:58 pm local time, a Cessna 172K, registered N78035, was destroyed in an accident near Boulder, Colorado. It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 1 person was killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the pilot's intentional suicidal flight into terrain. Contributing factors were the pilot's psychological depressive state, and his use of inappropriate medication.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 5, 2002 · about 10:58 pm local time
- Place
- Boulder, Colorado · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 172K · all 172Ks on the register
- Registration
- N78035 · no longer on the register · serial 17257468
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
Radar data indicates that the pilot was airborne for approximately 34 minutes when he began squawking 7700 (emergency transmission). Witnesses said the airplane flew straight and level into the mountain. The pilot's wife said that he was being treated for depression. A psychotherapist reported that the pilot had been seeing her for approximately 2 and a half months, twice a week, for severe depression. She said he was also taking an anti-depressant medication. She further stated that the pilot told her that if "he killed himself, he would do it in a plane, and crash it with only himself in it." On March 7, 2002, the Boulder County coroner ruled the pilot's manner of death as suicide.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,800 hours in all; 2,425 on instruments
- Last flight review: October 8, 2000
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,823 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, November 20, 2000; 171 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,300 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-360-A4M (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 2V2 Longmont CO at 10:23 pm
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 280° at 18 knots, gusting 34
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 15,000 ft; scat at 8,000 ft
- Temperature: 37°F (3°C), dew point 14°F (-10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.09 inHg
- Observation at 10:45 pm from BJC, 14 miles away
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.