Accident description
languages:
| Status: | Final |
| Date: | 29 MAR 2001 |
| Time: | 19:01 |
| Type: | Gulfstream Aerospace G-1159 Gulfstream III |
| Operator: | Avjet Corp |
| Registration: | N303GA |
| C/n / msn: | 303 |
| First flight: | 1980 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 7266 |
| Cycles: | 3507 |
| Engines: | 2 Rolls Royce 511-8 Spey |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 15 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 18 / Occupants: 18 |
| Airplane damage: | Destroyed |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | 0,7 km (0.4 mls) N of Aspen Airport, CO (ASE) (United States of America)
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| Phase: | Approach (APR) |
| Nature: | Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX), United States of America |
| Aspen Airport, CO (ASE), United States of America |
Crashed on finals to runway 15 when it hit a hill and then plunged across a 200 foot culvert between the hill and the airport before slamming into Shale Bluff, broke up and caught fire.
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. " Sources:
» NTSB-AAB-02-03
Official accident investigation report
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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX) to Aspen Airport, CO (ASE) as the crow flies is 1177 km (736 miles).
Distance from Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX) to Aspen Airport, CO (ASE) as the crow flies is 1177 km (736 miles).
