Cessna 305A accident near Watkins, Colorado, June 27, 1997
On June 27, 1997 at about 1:45 am local time, a Cessna 305A, registered N5225G, was destroyed in an accident near Watkins, Colorado (Aurora Airpark airport). It was a business 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 pilot inadvertently stalling the airplane at an altitude insufficient for a safe recovery. A factor was the tailwind.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 27, 1997 · about 1:45 am local time
- Place
- Watkins, Colorado · Aurora Airpark · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 305A · all 305As on the register
- Registration
- N5225G · no longer on the register · serial 21898
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot took off into a 20 to 25 mph headwind, turned downwind, snagged a banner he intended to tow, applied full power, and leveled the airplane. The pilot said the airplane began to vibrate and lose power and continued until ground impact. Witnesses said the airplane stalled. The pilot later told his insurance adjuster that the vibration was 'a classic initiation of a stall.'
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: single-engine land
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 2,500 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: frt
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,034 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, June 7, 1996; 228 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,100 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental O-470-11 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 01V
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 160° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 70 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 25,000 ft; scat at 12,000 ft
- Temperature: 77°F (25°C), dew point 37°F (3°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:55 am from BKF, 5 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 N5225G 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.