GAA19CA496 · Cessna TU206 G
Ew Holdings Cessna TU206 G · Accident: loss of control on ground during takeoff
From Regina, NM to San Luis Valley Regional Airport/Bergman Field (ALS)
Event
- NTSB case
- GAA19CA496
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Cessna TU206 G
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 206
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N6588X
- Operator
- Ew Holdings
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Regina, NMTo San Luis Valley Regional Airport/Bergman Field (ALS), Alamosa, CO
- Aircraft age
- About 39 years (built 1980)
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control on ground
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Environmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena
- Environmental issues › Physical environment
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot reported that, before takeoff from a 1,700-ft-long dirt airstrip with a 9,200-ft density altitude, he set the flaps to 20°, held the brakes, and ran the engine up to full power. He released the brakes and pulled back on the yoke, and the airplane accelerated. The pilot reported that the takeoff roll "seemed longer and slower than usual" and that, about two-thirds of the way down the runway, the airspeed was 45 knots. Near the end of the runway, the airplane momentarily became airborne and reached about 15 ft above ground level and then drifted right and settled back onto the ground. The airplane struck a bush and skidded left, the left landing gear collapsed, and the left wing impacted terrain.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing and elevator.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
The pilot stated that the airplane was heavily loaded but was under the maximum allowable gross weight. He added that he believed the loss of control occurred because "the density altitude was high; the strip is very short; and….[the airplane] was heavily loaded." He further stated that the airplane did not accelerate as quickly on the dirt as it did on the hard surfaces he was used to using for takeoffs.
Probable cause
The pilot's improper preflight performance planning for a high-density altitude takeoff from a short, dirt airstrip, which resulted in impact with terrain.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record GAA19CA496
- Event ID
- 20190819X13655
- Case number
- GAA19CA496
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 7778a816d0f1da6a5905ab8d2c44465bcb7f2e5dac05ef8d6a34e9afe37d58ff; retrieved 2026-09-16T09:47:23.637Z.