Learjet 45 totalled in Telluride Crash, as paged

[jimmnn]

SAN MIGUEL COUNTY - The San Miguel Sheriff's Office says a plane was totaled Saturday after the pilot missed the runway while trying to land at the Telluride Regional Airport.

It happened 5 p.m. Saturday. Two people were on board the Lear 45 jet.

They received minor injuries.

9News Meteorologist Nick Carter says snow was falling in that area at the time of the crash.

Track the plane’s flight at: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N279AJ

Jim<

 

[abqscan]

The plane did a bunch of holding patterns off of the ELT VOR as published. I'm surprised that KTEX doesn't have an ILS approach!

 

[letarotor]

AirNav shows three approaches for Telluride:
http://www.airnav.com/airport/TEX
I couldn't find anything in either the IFR or VFR DOD Suppliments for the airport.
There is a localizer DME approach to runway 09 but no glideslope. The minimums for the LOC/DME RWY 09 approach are 2100' and 2 miles. That is pretty high for a non-precision approach. The VOR/DME or GPS A approach has even higher minimums. The GPS RWY 09 approach looks like the easiest to execute but the minimums for that approach are 2600' and 2 miles.

I would have thought that the airport would have at least one precision approach considering all the rich Hollywood types that like to hang out up there in the winter. I would not want to try to land at this airport in a snowstorm, especially in a very unforgiving jet like a Lear. I bet these guys wish they had gone on to Montrose or Grand Junction and rented a car!

Mark

 

[abqscan]

The METAR @ 5:10 reported ceilings to be @ 2300' and LIFR conditions. One thing to note is the airport is closed when the sun is down. I wonder what time sunset is up in the mountains?

 

[PHXJETPILOT]

Glad the Crew is ok. As as for the IAPs or Published Instrument Approaches: Category C, D are Not Authorized at KTEX. The Learjet 45 is Category C, with that being said, I am wondering why they even attempted the approach if they did not have good VFR? I have flown the entire Learjet series into and out of that airport and it is very restrictive with weather, approaches and especially aircraft performance. Montrose in only 18-20 mins away and a 1 to 11/2 hours drive for the inconvenience.

 

[letarotor]

I had noticed that but it didn't click. Being a helo driver we only worry about Cat A minimums. Were did these guys end up in relation to the airport? I have been unable to find any news reports on this mishap. I'm thinking they were on their way in there to pick up people, thus their reason for making the dicey approach. Was the plane a fractional ownership?

Mark

 

[abqscan]

********************************************************************************
** Report created 1/6/2009 Record 5 **
********************************************************************************

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 279AJ Make/Model: LJ45 Description:
Date: 01/03/2009 Time: 1710

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Substantial

LOCATION
City: TELLURIDE State: CO Country: US

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON LANDING, RAN OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY, TELLURIDE, CO

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: WIND270 AT8 VIS4 LT SNOW BKN200 BKN1700 OVC2300

OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER


FAA FSDO: SALT LAKE CITY, UT (NM07) Entry date: 01/05/2009

 

[N_Jay]

Combined with a valid insurance policy, converts a durable asset into a liquid asset.

Sometimes to the advantage of the property owner.:twisted:

 

[captaincraig44]

DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT ON LANDING, RAN OFF THE END OF THE RUNWAY, TELLURIDE, CO



WEATHER: WIND270 AT8 VIS4 LT SNOW BKN200 BKN1700 OVC2300

I would question the logic used to even attempt the approach. As mentioned, if the Lear 45 is a Cat C, they really had no option for an instrument approach to the field. Now, add snow, 4 miles vis and a tailwind and now you see why they might have gone off the end of the rwy. It is possible that they had enough flight visibility to get a contact approach clearance. I guess that is to be determined.

 

[rfburns]

I wonder what time sunset is up in the mountains?

Sunset would have been at 1705.

 

[captaincraig44]

Sunset would have been at 1705.

That's what the Naval Observatory says, but keep in mind that doesn't take into account the height of the surrounding terrain. It could easily have been an hour earlier in reality. At ground level anyway.

 

[letarotor]

"Combined with a valid insurance policy, converts a durable asset into a liquid asset. Sometimes to the advantage of the property owner."

Perhaps, but I'd bet the owner didn't appreciate having their airplane bent. Nor does any pilot who ever hopes for a career flying the "big iron" want an accident on his/her record.

 

[n5ist]

Sunset would have been at 1705.

The airport is in a west facing valley. So, daylight lasts a while longer.

There is no precision approach because the airport is in a box canyon and
the runway is not level. It has a dip in the mid-section.

Cat. A & B only due to the turning radius required on the missed approach
to exit the canyon back to the west.

Sounds like they landed with a tailwind of 8 kts. on a contaminated runway.
I don't think the performance charts allow that.

 

[rfburns]

It could easily have been an hour earlier in reality. At ground level anyway.

Yes I agree, but I thought the question was relative to what time was the airport going to close (sunset plus 30). Hence the pressure to get down and not have to divert or face a citation. I would think that the official airport closure time and the time used to base citations on would be based on the Naval Observatory sunset time. I guess you could put the data into Radio Mobile and get an idea of when the sun would drop below the terrain.

When I worked in Glenwood Springs, in the winter it always seemed like the sun went down two hours, before sunset, but I don't think it was that bad south of town at GWS.

 

[abqscan]

There is no precision approach because the airport is in a box canyon and
the runway is not level. It has a dip in the mid-section.

Cat. A & B only due to the turning radius required on the missed approach
to exit the canyon back to the west.

[FONT=&quot]The Aircraft Approach Categories are based on 1.3 times the stall speed in landing configuration to determine your visibility and descent minimums for that procedure, not for missed approach's.

This is a horrible approach to fly in weather. I don't know why the FAA hasn't sunk a million bucks into the airport and installed an ILS approach. I don't think terrain is the problem, because the max glide slope of a standard ILS approach is 3.77 degrees, and the VOR approach to runway 9 has an airplane on a glide slope of 3.55 degrees. If an aircraft were to stay on this glide slope, it would positions it at 45' above the runway threshold. Since a million bucks is a million bucks, it is very strange to me that an RNAV approach hasn't been made for this airport.[/FONT]

 

[n5ist]

[FONT=&quot]The Aircraft Approach Categories are based on 1.3 times the stall speed in landing configuration to determine your visibility and descent minimums for that procedure, not for missed approach's.

This is a horrible approach to fly in weather. I don't know why the FAA hasn't sunk a million bucks into the airport and installed an ILS approach. I don't think terrain is the problem, because the max glide slope of a standard ILS approach is 3.77 degrees, and the VOR approach to runway 9 has an airplane on a glide slope of 3.55 degrees. If an aircraft were to stay on this glide slope, it would positions it at 45' above the runway threshold. Since a million bucks is a million bucks, it is very strange to me that an RNAV approach hasn't been made for this airport.[/FONT]

Cat. C & D turning radius is too wide for that canyon when going missed. If that's not the reason, what restricts C & D at this airport?
http://www.fltplan8.com/AppCharts/GIFCHARTS/06920LD9_0001.gif
Note the terrain you get close to on the missed. This is also the reason for the high minimums.

 

[PHXJETPILOT]

Spoke with an employee of the company, the statement I received was (as we all know) it was snowing and very near sunset on approach with a tail wind that was approx 8 knots (10K is the limitation for this aircraft and most), the runway was contaminated with snow and covered and the aircraft missed the runway either partially or completely and slid sideways and at that time te entire wing separated from the fuselage followed by the the tail section seperating from the fuselage as the aircraft tried to or rolled completely, the aircraft hull broke up and crew compartment remained intact protecting the crew from any serious injury. The aircraft, a relatively new factory Learjet 45XR was totaled. The Crew stated to my source that they had difficulty in determining the actual runway edges or outline due to the snow cover. Obviously this is subject to a myriad of questions and debate and we can wait for the NTSB report to verify this.

That's the scoop...

 

[PHXJETPILOT]

The airport is currently in a multi-phase master plan upgrade which includes flattening and extending the runway length and allowing for Regional Jet Service over the next several years. It will always be a "Special Airport" Here's the link:

http://www.tellurideairport.com/master_plan.html

 

[jimmnn]

First picture I have found.

http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/01/06/news/doc4963a51ede7dd960738634.txt

Jim<