Amateur-built AA-1A accident near Larkspur, Colorado, July 5, 1998
On July 5, 1998 at about 5:24 pm local time, a amateur-built AA-1A, registered N9453L, was destroyed in an accident near Larkspur, 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 inadvertently stalling the airplane and entering an unrecoverable spin. A factor was clear air turbulence.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 5, 1998 · about 5:24 pm local time
- Place
- Larkspur, Colorado · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built AA-1A
- Registration
- N9453L · no longer on the register · serial AA1A-0253
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The 265-hour private pilot filed a VFR flight plan from Boulder, Colorado, to Pueblo, Colorado, and requested VFR flight following services. Thirty minutes later, the pilot reported he was encountering 'moderate turbulence,' then 'quite a bit of turbulence,' that he was turning around, and requested flight following services back to Boulder. Shortly thereafter, the pilot advised he was in a spin and unable to correct and that he was turning off his transponder. The airplane struck the ground in a near-vertical attitude. There was no evidence of a spin. His logbook indicated he had never been demonstrated a spin or had been given spin instruction. The Pilot's Operating Handbook prohibits spins and states: 'There is evidence that permitting a spin to go beyond one turn without initiating proper recovery procedures can allow a spin mode to develop from which recovery is not possible.'
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: 267 hours in all; 130 in this make and model; 65 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days; 220 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 1,897 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, September 24, 1997; 124 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 1,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Lycoming O-235-C2C (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: 1C5 Boulder CO at 4:53 pm
- Destination: PUB Pueblo CO
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 7,000 ft
- Temperature: 90°F (32°C), dew point 48°F (9°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:53 pm from APA, 345 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.