Home> U.S. At Least 1 Dead in Aspen Airport Plane Crash

[Mick]

At least one person is dead and another has serious injuries after a private plane crashed today at the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport in Aspen, Colo., the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said.

Emergency crews responded immediately to the crash, the Sheriff's Office said.

The plane, which according to the Sheriff's Office had three people onboard, originated from Mexico and stopped in Tucson, Ariz., before arriving in Aspen.

At Least 1 Dead in Aspen Airport Plane Crash - ABC News
Breaking news: Plane crashes on Sardy Filed runway | Aspen Daily News Online
BREAKING NEWS: At least one dead after private jet crash at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport | AspenTimes.com

Future news releases:
Press Releases | What's New? | City of Aspen and Pitkin County, Colorado
https://www.facebook.com/PitkinSheriff

 

[RFsponge]

Aspen / Pitkin Cty Airport Jet Crash

Pitkin County confirms one dead, one critially injured and one minor injury among the three people aboard a small jet that crashed at the airport in Aspen this afternoon.

Multiple social media sources show pictures of an overturned aircraft with heavy fire damage being sprayed down by ARFF vehicles on the runway.

FlightAware.com shows the suspect plane made 3 or 4 attempted approaches into the airport after making a curious circle near the Colorado / Utah border to the west.

The airport is currently closed. DIA put out a tweet saying all flights into Aspen scheduled for the rest of the day are cancelled.

Rob

 

[mikewazowski]

Threads merged. Please check for other threads on the same topic before posting. Thanks.

 

[RFsponge]

Threads merged. Please check for other threads on the same topic before posting. Thanks.

Oops. Sorry about that, Chief.

 

[captaincraig44]

FlightAware.com shows the suspect plane made 3 or 4 attempted approaches into the airport after making a curious circle near the Colorado / Utah border to the west.

Rob

Nothing "curious" about the turn near the CO/UT border. Typical metering vector for a very busy airport that is severely capacity constrained due to the operational limitations.

I see a turn or two in holding initially, followed by a missed approach and vectors back to another approach, which is validated by the liveatc audio.

 

[RFsponge]

Nothing "curious" about the turn near the CO/UT border. Typical metering vector for a very busy airport that is severely capacity constrained due to the operational limitations.

I see a turn or two in holding initially, followed by a missed approach and vectors back to another approach, which is validated by the liveatc audio.

Great information. Thank you.

 

[jimmnn]

https://twitter.com/AspenJournalism/status/419956327218049024

Co-pilot was killed in today's crash in Aspen. 54-year-old Sergio Carranza Brabata of Mexico

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7qdse3osg85cab7/Aspen.Airport.Crash.Press.Release.01052014.pdf

Jim<

 

[jimmnn]

Aspen ATC audio

N115WF Crash at Aspen Airport. - YouTube

Jim<

 

[RFsponge]

Wind shear tolerances exceeded?

Nothing "curious" about the turn near the CO/UT border. Typical metering vector for a very busy airport that is severely capacity constrained due to the operational limitations.

I see a turn or two in holding initially, followed by a missed approach and vectors back to another approach, which is validated by the liveatc audio.

Now talked to several in the aviation field. Almost a complete consensus among them that the pilots were attempting to land in wind shear conditions that exceeded the aircraft manufacturer's tolerances. Over three times the limit. And they tried it multiple times. Astonishment at an "unfathomable decision," says one pilot with over 17,000 hours flying time, 600 in a Challenger.

Everyone did agree the turn over the Utah border was probably for metering.

FWIW

Rob

 

[Denverpilot]

Home&amp;gt; U.S. At Least 1 Dead in Aspen Airport Plane Crash

The aircraft also likely had a tailwind limitation they may have exceeded looking at the METAR.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jimmnn]

The aircraft also likely had a tailwind limitation they may have exceeded looking at the METAR.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

He reports on the audio 30 knot tail wind and requests a go around.

Jim<

 

[captaincraig44]

He reports on the audio 30 knot tail wind and requests a go around.

Jim<

Most turbine aircraft will have a hard limit of 10kts of tailwind component, I know the Q400 turboprop has at least a 15, if not 20 knot limit.

Just to be technically correct, you don't request a go-around. If you need to go-around, you go-around.
This report will be interesting. I've flown into ASE multiple times every week on average for the past five years. I am intimately familiar with the airport, the terrain and the challenges and pitfalls associated with the area. I fly a aircraft that is very similar to the Challenger that crashed. I'm very interested in what was being discussed on the flight deck after that first approach attempt when they reported the 33 kt tailwind. There would be no point to coming back around immediately in hopes that the tailwind would have died down in the four or five minutes it took to be vectored back around.
The location of the wreckage is another curiosity. It's quite far down the runway. I've got a few scenarios that might explain that. Also of note in the pictures is that the left engine doesn't appear to have a reverser deployed. I've yet to see a pic of the other side that allows me to see if the right engine reverser is deployed. What I've stating is fact, and I'm not going to engage in speculation publicly like so many, especially those not in the field, love to do.

If anyone has a question about anything related to this incident that they would like an informed, professional answer to, message me and I will answer it to the best extent I can.

 

[Denverpilot]

Home&amp;gt; U.S. At Least 1 Dead in Aspen Airport Plane Crash

I'm also available but probably not as experienced as the other poster on Commercial Part 135 operations. Just an Instrument rated Private Pilot.

There's a number of interesting things in the recording but they're all quite subtle. A full investigation should tell more with time.

KASE has always been a challenging airport but a properly trained commercial crew should be able to handle it, or wisely divert to Rifle or Eagle in most conditions up there, with the equipment they fly.

Toward the end of the recording there's another interesting exchange with other aircraft. A chock caught between the main gear and the right outside tire on one of the other bizjets.

Somebody else may have had the crash inadvertently delay their departure enough that someone in another jet caught it and warned them and saved a second incident. Or not. Still a little luck or karma there...

 

[jimmnn]

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Wreckage from Plane Crash Cleared from Runway


Pitkin County, Colorado – January 06, 2014 – As of 10:00 p.m. on Monday night the runway of the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport was cleared of wreckage from a fatal aircraft incident on Sunday that shut down all operations. Within the first 24 hours of the incident well over 100 personnel from public safety, local government, and the private sector were participating in response efforts.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board arrived in Aspen around 9:30 p.m. Sunday but were unable to investigate the interior of the wreckage until late Monday afternoon. During the day Monday, airport operations repaired damaged runway lights and signage and carefully swept the runway of all remaining debris. There was no significant damage to the runway surface.

Jet fuel containment efforts were conducted by a hazmat crew, with assistance from fire personnel, before investigators were able to board the wreckage. Hazmat crews will continue cleanup efforts to mitigate environmental impacts.

When the wreckage was stabilized and deemed safe, NTSB officials boarded the plane and executed components of the investigation which needed to occur before the wreckage could be moved. Two priorities were recovering the cockpit voice recorder, commonly referred to as the black box, and deactivating the emergency locator transmitter (ELT).

Once critical components of the investigation were complete the local incident management team coordinated efforts to load the wreckage onto a flatbed trailer using a crane and a large tow truck. The aircraft was initially rolled over onto it’s undercarriage to create a more stable position for loading it onto the trailer. The loading operation took from approximately 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Crews were out of the field by 10:30 p.m. and the remainder of the NTSB investigation will continue off site at their discretion. Determining of the cause of the crash are expected to take 12 to 18 months.

Normal airport operations will resume as airlines are able to coordinate scheduling and staffing needs. Please contact the airlines for detailed flight information.

 

[jimmnn]

Aspen airport releases video of Jan. 5 jet crash | Aspen Journalism

Jim<

 

[captaincraig44]

Figured there would be video of this. Looks like it was unrecoverable after the bounce.