Cessna 425 accident near Granby, Colorado, January 11, 1986
On January 11, 1986 at about 5:45 pm local time, a Cessna 425, registered N425SC, was destroyed in an accident near Granby, Colorado (Granby-Grand CO airport). It was a business flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 5 people were killed and 1 person was seriously injured. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 11, 1986 · about 5:45 pm local time
- Place
- Granby, Colorado · Granby-Grand CO · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 5 people were killed and 1 person was seriously injured.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 425 · all 425s on the register
- Registration
- N425SC · registry record · serial 425-0126
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DRG ARRIVAL, THE PLT ADVISED ARTCC THAT THE DESTINATION ARPT APPEARED TO BE COVERED WITH FOG. SHE THEN CANCELED HER IFR FLT PLAN. ACCORDING TO GROUND WITNESSES, THE ACFT MADE SEVERAL PASSES OVER THE ARPT. WITNESSES ALSO RPRTD THAT THE HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY WAS NIL, BUT THEY COULD SEE BLUE SKY DIRECTLY ABOVE. DRG THE LAST PASS, THE ACFT CROSSED OVER THE APCH END OF THE RWY WITH THE GEAR & FLAPS EXTENDED, ANGLING TO THE LEFT OF THE RWY HDG. MOMENTS LATER, WITNESSES HEARD THE ENGS GO TO FULL POWER, THEN SILENCE FOLLOWED. THE ACFT WAS FND WHERE IT IMPACTED RISING SNOW COVERED TERRAIN APRX 1/8 MI SOUTH OF THE MIDPOINT OF THE ARPT. THERE WAS EVIDENCE THAT THE ACFT WAS IN A STEEP DESCENDING, RIGHT WING LOW ATTITUDE WHEN IT CRASHED. NO PREIMPACT PART FAILURE/MALFUNCTION WAS FND.
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, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,085 hours in all; 156 in this make and model; 14 in the last 90 days; 14 in the last 30 days; 2,920 as pilot in command; 784 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 935 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, July 12, 1985; 62 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 8,600 lb
- Seats: 8
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-112 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Jayhawk Aircraft Sales
The flight
- Departed from: HUT Hutchison KS at 3:18 pm
- Destination: GNB
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 27, 5,250 ft by 70 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 4 | 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 DEN86MA061.