Airbus Industrie A319-111 incident near Denver, Colorado, October 23, 2006
On October 23, 2006 at about 8:00 pm local time, a Airbus Industrie A319-111, registered N924FR, was involved in an incident near Denver, Colorado (Denver Intl airport). It was flown under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 136 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The inadvertent activation of the priority pushbutton on the sidestick by the first officer resulting in a nose down pitch and loss of aircraft control during the landing flare.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 23, 2006 · about 8:00 pm local time
- Place
- Denver, Colorado · Denver Intl · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 136 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Airbus Industrie A319-111 · all A319-111s on the register
- Registration
- N924FR · no longer on the register · serial 2030
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During the landing flare approximately 10 feet above ground level, the aircraft pitched nose down while the captain applied aft sidestick force. The rate that the nose descended seemed to be commanded and extremely smooth. The first officer wondered if he could have accidentally bumped his sidestick, but he did not think that action occurred. The captain landed the airplane with the main landing gear touching down first, and the captain's sidestick was once again responsive. The entire event took no longer than 2 seconds. No electronic centralized aircraft monitor (ECAM) warnings or other indications were noticed by the flight crew. Review of the digital flight data recorder (DFDR) data revealed that the captain's sidestick (left) was inoperative for approximately 1 second during the landing flare. During that time, the first officer's sidestick (right) pitch was in the neutral position. Less than one second after the captain's sidestick went to inoperative, both sidestick pitch positions went to approximately 14-16 degrees aft. Pitch data revealed a decrease in pitch of approximately 2 degrees during the event. The airframe manufacturer provided the following analysis of the incident: "Captain was Pilot Flying (PF). First officer was Pilot Non Flying (PNF). Manual approach and flare input from the PF were nominal. But, it appeared that [the] PNF take-over and priority pushbutton was pushed inadvertently for approximately 1 to 2 seconds during flare. As a warning, white arrow pointing to the right was displayed in front of captain (PF) and F/O (first officer) green light was lit in front of F/O (PNF). With the F/O priority button pressed, EFCS (Electrical Flight Control System) disregarded the captain inputs to the benefit of the F/O one. During this time, as no order (neutral) was applied on F/O sidestick, aircraft elevators returned to neutral position, leading pitch attitude to be reduced by 1.5 degrees. EFCS switched back to captain sidestick when priority switch was released, and captain resumed flare and landing uneventfully." According to operator, the non-flying pilot's hand should not be on the sidestick during critical phases of flight, such as the landing flare; however, the non-flying pilot should be in a position to takeover control, if required.
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: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 9,800 hours in all; 1,500 in this make and model; 7,000 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: July 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: no injuries
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 9,836 hours in all; 1,730 in this make and model; 233 in the last 90 days; 83 in the last 30 days; 6,216 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: June 1, 2006
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (without waivers/limitations)
- Seat: rear
- Injury: no injuries
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 10,544 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, October 1, 2006; 171 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 155,322 lb
- Seats: 140
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: General Electric CFM56-5B5/P (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Frontier Airlines INC
The flight
- Departed from: LAX Los Angeles CA
- Destination: DEN Denver CO
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 16R, 16,000 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 8 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 25,000 ft; a few clouds at 15,000 ft
- Temperature: 52°F (11°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Observation at 6:56 pm from DEN
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 5 | |||
| Passengers | 131 |
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 N924FR 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.