Brown Hi-MAX 1700R accident near Fort Morgan, Colorado, September 17, 2005
On September 17, 2005 at about 10:30 pm local time, a Brown Hi-MAX 1700R, an amateur-built aircraft,, registered UNREG, was destroyed in an accident near Fort Morgan, Colorado (Fort Morgan Municipal Airport). 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 failure to maintain control of the airplane during a forced landing. Contributing factors were the resultant and inadvertent stall, the loss of engine power for undetermined reasons, and the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 17, 2005 · about 10:30 pm local time
- Place
- Fort Morgan, Colorado · Fort Morgan Municipal Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Brown Hi-MAX 1700R, amateur-built
- Registration
- UNREG · no longer on the register · serial None
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
A friend of the pilot stated that the pilot had only flown the airplane on two occasions prior to the accident flight. On one of those previous flights, the pilot had broken the landing gear during a hard landing. The accident flight was the first flight since the landing gear had been repaired. The friend said that on another flight, the pilot exhausted his fuel supply and made a forced landing on the airport. He said that when the engine loses power, the airplane becomes nose heavy and has a tendency to dive. He said witnesses told him it sounded as if the airplane's engine was "misfiring" or "sputtering." They said it appeared the pilot was trying to land in a field. The pilot turned and stalled the airplane. Other witnesses told sheriff's deputies they saw the airplane "diving toward the ground" or "diving nearly straight down." The airplane impacted a farm field approximately 200 yards southwest of the airport.
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: private
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 192 hours in all; 155 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: March 1, 1999
- Medical certificate: Class 3
- Seat: frt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 560 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 447 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 3V4 Fort Morgan CO
- Destination: 3V4 Fort Morgan CO
- Flight plan: none
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 250° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 16°F (-9°C)
- Altimeter: 29.87 inHg
- Observation at 3:53 am from AKO, 29 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.
Other NTSB records under UNREG the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.