Amateur-built DH-8-202 accident near Telluride, Colorado, July 27, 1998
On July 27, 1998 at about 10:50 pm local time, a amateur-built DH-8-202, registered N449YV, was substantially damaged in an accident near Telluride, Colorado (Telluride Regional airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 27 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The inadequate chocks and inadequate chocking procedures by the operator. Factors were the unavailability of the parking brake and sloping terrain.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 27, 1998 · about 10:50 pm local time
- Place
- Telluride, Colorado · Telluride Regional · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 27 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DH-8-202
- Registration
- N449YV · registry record · serial 449
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During pre-start preparation, while parked nose in on a 2-degree up-slope, a Bombardier DH-8 aircraft jumped the nose wheel chocks and rolled backwards approximately 70 feet into a parked Beech 1900. The parking brake accumulator had bled off and the crew was in the process of recharging the accumulator when the accident occurred. The investigation revealed that the chocks were too small, and the minimal weight on the nose wheel where the chocks were placed was not sufficient to ensure that nose wheel rolling over the chocks.
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; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,950 hours in all; 26 in this make and model; 54 in the last 90 days; 26 in the last 30 days; 4,907 as pilot in command; 1,873 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,223 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, July 25, 1998; 18 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 36,500 lb
- Seats: 39
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PW-123D (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Mesa Air Group, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: TEX CO
- Destination: MTJ Montrose CO
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 4,000 ft; scat
- Temperature: 61°F (16°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 10:55 pm from TEX, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 24 |
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 N449YV 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.