Grumman Gulfstream III accident near Aspen, CO
On March 30, 2001, a Grumman Gulfstream III (airplane) was involved in an accident near Aspen, CO. 18 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- March 30, 2001
- Place
- Aspen, CO
- Aircraft
- Grumman Gulfstream III · Airplane
- Injuries
- 18 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 39.191°N, 106.820°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010412X00738
Official records · DCA01MA034
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
- Investigation page: status, final report and safety recommendations
Air traffic control records
- ATC 3-Factual Report Of Group Chairman: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC 3-Addendum 1: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC 3-Attachment 1-Transcript Partial: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC 3-Attachment 2-Air Traffic Accident Package Items: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- ATC 3-Attachment 3-Radar Overlays: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/publictn.htm . HISTORY OF FLIGHT On March 29, 2001, about 1901:57 mountain standard time, a Gulfstream III, N303GA, owned by Airbourne Charter, Inc., and operated by Avjet Corporation of Burbank, California, crashed while on final approach to runway 15 at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado. The charter flight had departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) about 1711 with 2 pilots, 1 flight attendant, and 15 passengers. The airplane crashed into sloping terrain about 2,400 feet short of the runway threshold. All of the passengers and crewmembers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was being operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135. The captain and first officer for the charter flight reported to the Avjet facility at the Burbank-Glendale Pasadena Airport (BUR), Burbank, California, sometime before 1300 (1200 Pacific standard time) on the day of the accident. An Avjet captain stated, in a postaccident interview, that he saw the captain checking the ASE weather on a computer display and discussing the ASE weather with an Avjet charter department scheduler while at BUR. Another Avjet captain stated, in a postaccident interview, that he saw the first officer performing what appeared to be a routine airplane preflight inspection on N303GA on the ramp at BUR. About 1200 (1100 Pacific standard time), the first officer contacted the Hawthorne, California, Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) specialist f
Probable cause
the flight crew's operation of the airplane below the minimum descent altitude without an appropriate visual reference for the runway. Contributing to the cause of the accident were the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) unclear wording of the March 27, 2001, Notice to Airmen regarding the nighttime restriction for the VOR/DME-C approach to the airport and the FAA's failure to communicate thi
From Wikipedia
On March 29, 2001, a chartered Gulfstream III business jet operated by Avjet from Los Angeles, California, to Aspen, Colorado, crashed into the ground while on final approach. All three crew members and 15 passengers on board died.
The subsequent investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) concluded that the cause of the accident was the captain's premature descent below the minimum descent altitude, carried out without having the runway in sight.
The accident's investigation also brought into focus several generic safety issues, such as: pressure applied on charter pilots by customers, including this flight's charter customer having contacted the Avjet office to state that the flight must not be diverted, and telling Avjet management that the pilot must stop talking about diversion being required due to the night landing rules at Aspen; night flight into airports near mountainous terrain; and, the ambiguity of some Federal Aviation Administration rules.
Text from Wikipedia, “2001 Avjet Gulfstream III crash”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
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Browse: Colorado · Grumman aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
