Jet crashes on landing at Aspen, Colorado, airport, killing 1

[Rapunzel]

http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/05/us/colorado-plane-crash/

Jet crashes on landing at Aspen, Colorado, airport, killing 1
By Alan Duke, CNN
updated 4:43 PM EST, Sun January 5, 2014

Watch this video
Plane crash at Aspen airport

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

    NEW: Two people are transported to a hospital with injuries, a spokesman says
    Crashed jet was a Bombardier Challenger 600 coming from Tucson, Arizona
    LeAnn Rimes tweets: "So sad! Horrible plane crash we just saw happen at the Aspen airport"

(CNN) -- At least one person died when a small plane crashed while trying to land at the Aspen, Colorado, airport Sunday, said Alex Burchetta with the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.

Two other people were transported to the hospital with "moderate to severe injuries," he said.

Photos posted on Twitter showed the plane upside down on the tarmac, its fuselage charred.

Two celebrities, who were at the small airport in the Aspen ski resort area, posted Twitter messages saying they witnessed the crash.

"So sad! Horrible plane crash we just saw happen at the Aspen airport," singer LeAnn Rimes tweeted.

Comedian Kevin Nealon tweeted: "Horrible plane crash here at Aspen airport. Exploded into flames as it was landing. I think it was a private jet. Fire truck and ambulances were on the scene within minutes."

FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the twin-engine jet was a Bombardier Challenger 600 that was coming from Tucson, Arizona.

The Aspen airport is known as a challenging place for pilots to land because of the mountains that surround the runway. The airport tarmac is often filled with private planes owned or chartered by the wealthy and famous who own vacation homes in the mountain resort community.

"Airport is closed now," Nealon tweeted. "I think I'll drive back to LA after seeing that."

[Rapunzel]

[Atomic Cow]

Aircraft is reported to be N115WF



It is registered to the Bank of Utah, which tells us nothing.  It was granted its original certificate of air worthiness on 5-26-2000.

Edit: Rap beat me with the picture.

[mountaineer]

Is that the airport that is supposed to be one of the worst into which to fly? Can't remember whether it's Aspen or Vail, but one of them is treachorous as heck.

[Rapunzel]

Is that the airport that is supposed to be one of the worst into which to fly? Can't remember whether it's Aspen or Vail, but one of them is treachorous as heck.

There has been a lot of accidents at Aspen. Remember years back Sally Field was in a jet that crashed  at Aspen

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20100462,00.html

Sally Field and Her Family Live Through a Frightening Airplane Crash on Takeoff from Aspen

By Sally Field

UPDATED 11/14/1988 at 01:00 AM EST • Originally published 11/14/1988 at 01:00 AM EST

For Sally Field, the flight a week ago from Aspen, Colo., where she has a vacation home, to Burbank, Calif., should have been routine. But the private jet carrying Sally, her husband, Alan Greisman, their 11-month-old son, Sam, and Sally's mother went out of control on takeoff, swerved off the runway and plowed into two other jets. Though the plane, owned by Merv Griffin, was apparently a total loss, the crew of three and the Field family members all escaped serious injury. The cause of the crash was still unknown when Field, who suffered bruised ribs and a wrenched back, spoke with correspondent Lois Armstrong.

I'm deathly frightened to fly, so I was buckled up real tight. I had Sam in my lap, and I had him really tucked in. I could feel when we picked up speed for takeoff. Then the plane started swerving in huge, big turns, and we knew we were in trouble. I looked at my mother, and our eyes said, "Oh my God!" All I was thinking was, "Hold on to Sam! Hold on to Sam!" I didn't care if I broke every bone in my body. Nothing flashed before my eyes except Sam.

I thought we were going to flip over. When we hit the first plane, that slowed us down, but we were still going fast. And then we went broadside into the second plane. It all seemed to take a very long time—especially not knowing what was coming at the end.

When we crashed, it knocked the wind out of me, but the seat belt held and caught me in my ribs and stomach. I thought I'd broken my ribs. The belt saved our lives, but I thought I'd crushed Sam to death. My arms still ache from holding on to him so tight. But my body must have received his blow; he had no whiplash at all.

My husband started yelling, "Get out! Get out!" One pilot, who had a gash on his leg, came out and pulled open the emergency door, which had jammed. We had to jump six or eight feet off the wing, which was spurting aviation fuel over us. I was holding Sam, and he cried a little on impact, but that's the only time.

We started running away from the plane. We were reeking of fuel. It makes no sense that the plane didn't blow up. It makes no sense that we're still alive, and I have to live with that feeling. It makes you very aware that some things must be planned and some not.

I've been so exhausted since it happened. During the daytime I think about it when I rock the baby to sleep. It will take me a long time to get the noise of that crash out of my head.

Then there was this crash in 2001:

http://articles.latimes.com/2001/mar/30/news/mn-47763

Aspen-Bound Plane From Burbank, LAX Crashes; 18 Die
Aviation: The chartered jet goes down near the ski resort's airport. It was attempting an instrument landing, an official says.
March 30, 2001|LOUIS SAHAGUN and ROBERT J. MANZANO | TIMES STAFF WRITERS

A chartered jet out of Burbank and Los Angeles airports slammed into a hillside in snowy weather near Aspen, Colo., Thursday evening, killing all 18 people on board.

Breaking into pieces, the plane hurtled over a culvert before smashing into a bluff just short of the runway at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport, authorities said.

Rescuers arrived within minutes as local residents climbed over fences and tried to find survivors in a field, but were turned back by spilled fuel and flaming wreckage.

The plane was owned by a firm headed by movie producer Andrew G. Vajna, who made such films as the "Rambo" trilogy, "Die Hard With a Vengeance" and "Total Recall." He was not aboard. Identities of the 15 passengers and three crew members weren't released.

The Gulfstream III twin turbojet had left Burbank Airport at 2:33 p.m. and flown to Los Angeles International Airport, where it left for Aspen at 4:16 p.m., said Bruce Nelson, a Federal Aviation Administration operations officer.

There were no distress calls before the plane slammed into the hill near Snowmass Village, about 500 yards west of the Aspen airport, losing its tail, said Marie Munday, a spokeswoman for the Pitkin County Sheriff's Department.

Madeleine Osberger, 40, of Aspen, said she saw the plane just before it crashed. Later, she saw the wrecksage.

"It was very, very close to the airport. He just missed the runway. He just missed the highway," Osberger said. "Thank God he missed the highway."

It wasn't snowing at the time, but it had been snowing before the crash and resumed soon afterward, she added.

"The weather moved so fast; maybe the pilot didn't know what hit him." she said.

Al Kassa, who had been traveling on Highway 82, a main artery in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, told KCNC-TV the plane passed over his car at a height of about 50 feet and then crashed.

"The noise was just so loud," he said. "And then I just saw it going straight into the ground at about a 30-degree angle, and then it just blew up. I've been in a state of shock for the last few hours.

Wreckage was scattered across a 100-yard area on the highway and on the hillsides, authorities said. Three bodies were found on the road, and another on the hillside. Two passengers were still strapped to their seats in the plane, authorities said.

"The jet was attempting to perform an instrument landing," Munday said. "We have located 18 bodies, which were the total number aboard, according to the manifest."

Private pilot Tim Jackson told MSNBC that he was about 1 1/2 miles from the airport when he saw "live fire" along the shoulder of the road and rushed to the scene to see "if there was anything I could do."

"It was a gruesome sight, obviously," Jackson said.

An Aspen firefighter reportedly broke into tears when she arrived at the site.

The crash occurred as the town was hosting several film and music festivals.

The 1981 aircraft, which was designed to carry up to 21 passengers and typically ferried celebrities and dignitaries, is maintained and operated by Avjet Corp. in Burbank.

According to the FAA, the plane is owned by Airborne Charter Inc., based in Santa Monica, and that company's president is Vajna, the founder of Cinergi Pictures Entertainment Inc.

Avjet President Marc Foulkrod confirmed that Vajna was not abord.

Foulkrod said the company had sent employees to Aspen to help National Transportation Safety Board investigators. Thirteen NTSB investigators are expected to arrive at the scene early this morning, the sheriff's office said.

"Our deepest and most heartfelt concern goes out to all of the families," Foulkrod said.

The Avjet hotline for crash information is (818) 841-6190.

On the plane, he added, was Avjet's senior captain, whom he described as an experienced pilot.

Witnesses reported blowing snow and mist in the Aspen area Thursday night.

Matthew Allee, an employee of a small market near the crash site, said: "I saw smoke in the distance, and then 12 ambulances, firetrucks and police cars. And, man, the snow was coming down."

Kat Parkin, an Aspen resident, told CNN that the crash occurred a few hundred yards from the airport. A large number of emergency personnel in yellow and orange suits could be seen on a hillside.

Controlling the environment at the airport, in the air and on the ground, has been a controversial issue in Colorado for years.

The federal government's General Accounting Office concluded that significant safety issues are associated with the airport. Fourteen general aviation accidents occurred between October 1982 and September 1992 within 15 miles of the airport.

Four people, including a United Airlines pilot and his wife, were killed in the crash of a small, vintage Cessna aircraft northwest of the airport last July.

In October 1998, Academy Award-winning actress Sally Field and her family escaped unhurt when their private plane aborted takeoff and smashed into two parked planes at the Aspen airport.

A United Express commuter jet slid off the end of a runway at the airport in March 1998, but no one was injured.

[Atomic Cow]

Is that the airport that is supposed to be one of the worst into which to fly? Can't remember whether it's Aspen or Vail, but one of them is treacherous as heck.

You're probably thinking of Vail, which is notorious for being very difficult for both landings and takeoffs.

Aspen isn't much better, but it doesn't get nearly as much traffic as Vail.  Both have had a good number of crashes by smaller aircraft.  Don't think either have had a commercial crash, thankfully.

[Rapunzel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_County_Regional_Airport

Eagle County Regional Airport (IATA: EGE, ICAO: KEGE, FAA LID: EGE), sometimes referred to as Vail/Eagle Airport or the Eagle Vail Airport, is a public airport located four miles (6 km) west of Eagle, Colorado The airport serves its namesake Eagle County, which includes visitors to the nearby Vail and Beaver Creek ski resorts. It covers 632 acres (256 ha) and is configured with a single runway. The History Channel rated Eagle County Regional Airport as #8 on its list of Most Extreme Airports in July, 2010 due to the elevation, weather variability, an approach through mountainous terrain and challenging departure procedures. In 2008–2009, the airport completed a runway repaving and extension project, increasing the runway length to 9,000 feet. This enables aircraft to take off with more passengers and fuel and the capability to serve longer distances.

The airport is largely seasonal, with the greatest number of scheduled flights operating during the winter months. During the ski season, EGE is the second busiest airport in Colorado after the Denver International Airport. Eagle serves as a good alternative to Denver for skiers in the Vail Valley because of its close proximity to the major international ski resorts of Vail, Beaver Creek, Copper Mountain, Keystone, and Breckenridge. Due to the abundance of flights into EGE and the ability to accept larger aircraft than Aspen, during the ski season, a number of passengers fly into EGE rather than attempting to fly into Aspen. Operations into the airport during the summer months have proven to be increasingly popular with tourists, with United Express offering service year-round and with American Airlines serving the Airport during summer months from June through September. The Eagle County Airport is also extremely popular with private aircraft operators and has one of the top rated Fixed Base Operators in the country, the Vail Valley Jet Center. Due to the wide variety of private and commercial aircraft, CNN rated EGE as one of the world's top places to spot aircraft.

[Rapunzel]

One of my Colorado friends said the med-evac chopper flying with the critically injured from Aspen Valley Hospital to St. Mary's flew over his house about three hours ago, and any time they come up and over the West Elks and the Raggeds, instead of flying the I-70/Grand Mesa Corridor, it's REALLY bad, but it saves them 15-20 minutes so they take it - even in windy weather like today.

[Atomic Cow]

The fatality is a member of the flight crew.  Most likely the critical injury is the other pilot.

[Atomic Cow]

ASPEN, Colo. - One person died and two others were hurt in a crash at the Aspen Airport Sunday afternoon.

Three people were on the plane, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office.

A statement from the Sheriff’s Office said one passenger was killed, one person had major injuries and the third has minor injuries. The plane crashed at 12:23 p.m., according to sheriff's office.

"First responders from the Aircraft Rescue Firefighting Team were able to extinguish the flames in minutes," a release from the sheriff's office stated.

The man who died was identified as the co-pilot, Sergio Emilio Carranza Barbata, 54, of Mexico, according to the sheriff's office. He was pronounced dead at the scene.  The more-seriously injured victim was the pilot. The passenger was described as another pilot, the sheriff's office statement said.  Their identities have not yet been released by the NTSB.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/fiery-plane-crash-at-aspen-airport

[Rapunzel]

The flight originated in Mexico and then stopped in Tucson. 

[Atomic Cow]

The flight originated in Mexico and then stopped in Tucson.

Since there were not any passengers on board, they were probably flying in to pick up someone(s).

[Rapunzel]

A pilot and former military pilot and accident investigator had this to say about the crash:"

FWIW
I listened to the radio chatter before/during/after the Class A and then did a little route/destination study.....maybe it's the accident investigator  inside me.

Aspen is a very sporty (some may translate that as hazardous/dangerous) field to fly into for a number of reasons:

1...There is only one way in & out due to mountainous terrain everywhere. Aircraft normally land to the southeast on RWY 15 and takeoff to the northwest on RWY 33.

2...The instrument approach used is the "Localizer E" approach which tells you that you have great centerline to the runway guidance but the 'E' means it is a 'Circling' approach. In circling approaches you generally are quite a bit higher at minimums than a regular instrument approach thereby allowing you to circle safely to another runway if needed.

3...If you are flying the 'Loc E' approach at Aspen to land on RWY 15 (and not circle) which is what they were trying to do, your glidepath from the Missed Approach Point(MAP) to the touchdown zone has to be very steep....In fact you could easily be put on a glidepath of from 6.59 degrees to as much as 9 or even 10 degrees if you start descent at the MAP...for reference the VGSI (Visual Glideslope Indicator) there is set at 3.5 degrees...... You will probably land long because you will be STEEP!

4...The Runway elevation is roughly 8k'--- Due to the difference between True Airspeed (KTAS) & Indicated Airspeed (KIAS) an RJ Challenger 600 aircraft would be traveling about 30 knots faster than their instruments indicate due to the elevation alone......You will be FAST!

5...The mishap pilot went 'Missed Approach' being unable to land safely on the previous approach to the mishap reporting 30 knots of tailwind which would add 30 knots to your already fast speed. WX.com said the tailwind may have actually been 35 knots Please note that your landing distance is proportional to the square of your speed so being on speed is far more important than landing on brick one of the runway......You are now VERY FAST!

6...The Runway length is roughly 8k'---This is a pretty standard length but it can effectively seem much shorter if there is anything but a dry runway...to give perspective: the Runway Condition Reading (RCR) is a way of giving a number to braking efficiency and the runway condition.
RCR 23==Dry
RCR 12==Wet (about twice the runway needed)
RCR 5===Icy (4-5 times the runway needed)
Runway 15 does have a 1.9 degree upslope which will help you slow down some but still
With any RCR less than 23 (Note: In a video of the crash response crew the runway looked to be icy)......Your BRAKES Won't Work as Well!

7....From listening to the com you can hear the nervousness and lack of confidence in the mishap pilot's voice. The pilot's 'Pucker Factor' was very high!

So let's summarize:

--The mishap aircraft was VERY STEEP.
--The mishap aircraft was as much as 75 mph fast, which was VERY VERY FAST.
--The RCR was probably poor.
--The mishap pilot's a$$ was eating his seat cushion.
--Very steep, very fast, landing long with bad braking and a nervous uncertain pilot in bad weather at an unfamiliar hazardous strange field.

[Rapunzel]

Came in from the north-west, wicked tailwind, too steep and  too fast....

Here's the airport video of the incident...

vimeo.com/84713706