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)
Phase:	Approach (APR)
Nature:	Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX/KLAX), United States of America
Destination airport:	Aspen Airport, CO (ASE), United States of America

Narrative:
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. "

Events:

Sources:
» NTSB-AAB-02-03

Sample newspaper article from Newspaperarchive.com