Two single-engine Cessnas collided in a mountain pass 14mi southeast of Grand Junction, Colorado in clear weather the morning of 22 October, leaving two badly damage high-wing aircraft but no physical injuries to the six occupants involved.

Senior US National Transportation Safety Board investigator, Arnold Scott, says the Cessna 180 with two onboard was descending from 16,500ft (5030m) to 8,500ft on its northwest course to Vernal, Utah when the midair occurred at 0857 Wednesday morning. Scott says the pilot was looking out of the window at the landscape at the time. “He deer hunts and was looking for deer,” he says.

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The pilot’s attention was brought front and centre descending through 10,000ft however when his passenger shrieked. “(The pilot) looked up and saw the other aircraft approaching head-on,” says Scott. He then pushed full forward on the yoke and felt an impact that spun the aircraft 270 degrees. The pilot told Scott that the upper 2/3 of the vertical stabilizer and rudder were missing and that it required full left aileron to maintain control. The pilot set up an emergency landing in a field below and flipped over on landing. Surface elevation is approximately 5,000ft in that area.

The Cessna 210, reportedly carrying a sheriff’s deputy and two prisoners along with the pilot, was climbing from 9,500ft to 10,500ft on its eastbound track to Florence, Colorado when the midair occurred. Scott says the pilot was talking by radio to the FAA flight service station to activate his VFR flight plan when he heard a “bang” and had thought he hit a bird. As a precaution, he diverted to the Grand Junction airport, 14mi to the northwest. When he attempted to lower the landing gear for landing, a warning light indicated that the nose gear had not extended. After confirming the hang-up with a fly-by of the tower, the pilot then tried to lower the landing gear manually, to no avail. He then landed with the nose gear retracted.

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Source: FlightGlobal.com

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