Beech 76 accident near Gunnison, CO
On May 12, 2001, a Beech 76 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Gunnison, CO. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- May 12, 2001
- Place
- Gunnison, CO
- Aircraft
- Beech 76 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 38.464°N, 107.175°W
- NTSB ID
- 20010521X00977
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On May 11, 2001, at 1937 mountain daylight time, a Beech 76, N6002H, registered to EDB Air, Inc., and operated by Wings of Denver, a flying club, of Englewood, Colorado, was destroyed when it collided with power lines and impacted the Blue Mesa Reservoir approximately 17 miles west of Gunnison, Colorado. The two commercial pilots were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight being conducted under Title 14 CFR (Code of Federal Regulations) Part 91. The flight originated from Centennial Airport, Englewood, at 1755. There is no record that either pilot obtained a weather briefing or filed a flight plan. According to the Centennial Airport Control Tower, the airplane was cleared to taxi at 1743, to position and hold at 1754, for take off on runway 17L at 1755, and to depart to the west at 1756. According to the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center, a VFR (visual flight rules) target, squawking 1200, was seen departing Centennial Airport at about that time. It climbed to 9,800 feet and steadied up on a southwesterly course before disappearing from radar about 20 miles away. There were numerous reports of a low-flying airplane. The first was from a resident in Crested Butte, about 25 miles north of Gunnison, who said a twin engine airplane flew low over town and disappeared flying south. Next, a resident on the north side of Gunnison (N. 11th St.) reported seeing an airplane matching the description of N6002H flying south over the Gunnison River "at a high rate of speed." In his written
Probable cause
intentional buzzing by both pilots and their failure to maintain clearance with transmission wires. A contributing factor was the sun glare.
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Browse: Colorado · Beech 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.
