Plane in fatal Arvada crash needs more examination to determine cause, NTSB says
Melissa Brinkmann of Parker, a passenger, died from injuries sustained in the crash, and the pilot and two children were seriously injured, according to the NTSB and previous reporting. No one on the ground was injured.
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A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report into a fatal Arvada plane crash provides new details about the circumstances of the crash, but shows investigators are still determining what caused the crash that killed a Parker woman and seriously injured three others.
The Beech V35A airplane crashed near Oberon Road and Brentwood Street in Arvada around 9:30 a.m. on June 7 after the pilot told air traffic controllers he was having engine oil pressure problems, according to the NTSB report released Wednesday.
The single-engine airplane took off from Centennial Airport at around 9:14 a.m. for a personal flight and was headed to Northern Colorado Regional Airport in Fort Collins when the pilot reported he wanted to divert to Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield.
But the pilot attempted to land on the road instead, and witnesses reported seeing the airplane flying low, that the engine “did not sound normal” and that white smoke appeared to be coming from the plane.
The plane’s left wingtip hit a 30-foot tree and fence in nearby yards as it was landing, then slid down the road until it hit a parked vehicle and came to rest in a front yard, according to the report.
Melissa Brinkmann of Parker, a passenger, died from injuries sustained in the crash, and the pilot and two children were seriously injured, according to the NTSB and previous reporting. No one on the ground was injured.
The plane was mostly consumed in a fire that started after it crashed, and the engine and airframe need more detailed examination because of severe fire damage, federal investigators wrote.
Investigators did not find anything that showed flight control systems failed before the crash or any structural anomalies, the report states. The engine was partially attached, the engine case was intact and the oil cap was on and secure.
NTSB investigations usually take one to two years to complete, according to the agency.
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