Grumman Gulfstream III near Aspen, Colorado — 2001-03-30
- Date
- 2001-03-30
- Location
- Aspen, Colorado, USA
- Aircraft
- Grumman Gulfstream III
- Registration
- N303GA
- Category
- Airplane
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 this restriction to the Aspen tower; the inability of the flight crew to adequately see the mountainous terrain because of the darkness and the weather conditions; and the pressure on the captain to land from the charter customer and because of the airplane's delayed departure and the airport's nighttime landing restriction.
Contributing factors
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 this restriction to the Aspen tower; the inability of the flight crew to adequately see the mountainous terrain because of the darkness and the weather conditions; and the pressure on the captain to land from the charter customer and because of the airplane's delayed departure and the airport's nighttime landing restriction.
NTSB narrative
On the evening of March 29, 2001, a 1980 Gulfstream III business jet operating a private charter flight from Los Angeles attempted the VOR DME Charlie approach into Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Colorado. The twin-engine jet carried two pilots, a flight attendant, and 15 passengers. Conditions at Aspen had deteriorated to approximately two miles visibility in light snow showers with broken cloud layers, and the approach was conducted after dark in what were effectively nighttime IMC conditions. The crew descended well below the minimum descent altitude without the runway environment in sight, deviated significantly off course, and struck terrain short of the runway. All 18 people on board were killed and the aircraft was destroyed.
Evidence available
- CVR
- ATC audio
- ADS-B / radar
- Photos
- 105 docket documents
Docket documentsshowing 50 of 105
- AIRPORTS-ARFF 16-ADDENDUM 12-TRANSCRIPTIONS OF ATCT AND APCC RADIO TRANSMISSIONSatc
- ATC 3-ADDENDUM 1atc
- ATC 3-ADDENDUM 2-STATEMENT OF MR WALLACE ROBERTSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 1-TRANSCRIPT PARTIALatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 10-H R 2739 SECTION 517atc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 11-REPORTS AND FORMS COMPLETED BY MIKE AHERNatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 12-POWERPOINT PRESENTATION AND SUPPORTING DATAatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 12A-SUPPORTING DATA TO POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 13-AVN-120 NOTAM DOCUMENTS AND PERSONNEL STATEMENTSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 14A-ASCII TEXT FILE WITH RADAR DATA EXTRACTIONSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 14B-ASCII TEXT FILE WITH RADAR DATA EXTRACTIONSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 15-ZDV NOTAM DISTRIBUTION REPORTatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 16-MEMOS CONCERNING TERPS 25LBatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 17-VOR-DME OR GPS-C REVIEW RECORDSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 18-FLIGHT SAFETY FOUNDATION PAPERatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 19-FAA ORDER 82001 EXCERPTatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 2-AIR TRAFFIC ACCIDENT PACKAGE ITEMSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 20-CAST-CFIT PRESENTATIONatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 3-RADAR OVERLAYSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 4-ASPEN ATCT ORDERSatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 5-PROCEDURES DATA 1991 TO PRESENTatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 6-VOR-DME OR GPS-C APPROACH PLATESatc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 8-PROCEDURES DATA PRE-1991atc
- ATC 3-ATTACHMENT 9-NIGHT FLIGHT STUDIESatc
- ATC 3-FACTUAL REPORT OF GROUP CHAIRMANatc
- COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER 12 - SOUND SPECTRUM STUDYcvr
- COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER 12-GROUP CHAIRMAN FACTUAL REPORTcvr
- AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE 13-FACTUAL REPORT OF GROUP CHAIRMANform
- AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE 13-WRECKAGE SITE FACTUAL REPORTform
- AIRPORTS-ARFF 16-ATTACHMENT 6-SARDY FIELD AIRPORT MASTER RECORD FAA FORM 5010form
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 1-INTERVIEW SUMMARIESform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 10-AVJET TRAINING MANUAL RECURRENT TRAININGform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 11-AVJET TRAINING CERTIFICATEform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 12-AVJET TRAINING MANUAL CFIT AWARENESSform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 13-AVJET TRAINING MANUAL CRMform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 14-SAMPLE FLIGHT PLANSform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 15-N303GA FLIGHT RELEASEform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 16-AVJET MEMORANDUM MOUNTAIN AIRPORTSform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 17-CAPTAIN'S CELL PHONE ACCOUNT RECORD FOR 3-29-01form
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 18-WEIGHT AND BALANCE INFORMATIONform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 19-TOXICOLOGY REPORTform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 2-ASPEN-PITKIN COUNTY AIRPORT INFORMATIONform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 20-AVJET RESPONSE TO INTERIEW CONDUCTED WITH FAA POIform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 3-N303GA FLIGHT LOG PAGEform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 4-FUEL RECEIPT BURBANKform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 5-N303GA FLIGHT LOG PAGE RECOVERED AT SCENE OF ACCIDENTform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 6-FUEL RECEIPT LOS ANGELESform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 7-AVJET OPERATIONS MANUAL PIC RESPONSIBILITIESform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 8-NIGHTIME AIRPORT OPERATING HOURSform
- OPERATIONS-HUMAN PERFORMANCE 2-ATTACHMENT 9-AVJET OPERATIONS MANUAL STANDARD CALLOUTSform