Grumman GULFSTREAM III N303GA

Summary

On 30 March 2001 at about 02:01 local time, a Grumman GULFSTREAM III registered N303GA, operated by Avjet Corp, was involved in an accident near Aspen, Colorado, United States. 18 people were on board and 18 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 March 2001 at 02:01

Classification

Accident

Location

Aspen, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Aspen-Pitkin Co/Sardy Field (ASE)

Coordinates

39.1909, -106.8204

Aircraft

Grumman GULFSTREAM III

Registration

N303GA

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Avjet Corp

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Los Angeles → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA01MA034

18 people died.

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.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/Publictn/publictn.htm . On March 29, 2001, about 1901:57 mountain standard time, a Gulfstream III, N303GA, owned by Airbourne Charter, Inc., and operated by Avjet Corporation of Burbank, California, crashed while on final approach to runway 15 at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado. The charter flight had departed Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) about 1711 with 2 pilots, 1 flight attendant, and 15 passengers. The airplane crashed into sloping terrain about 2,400 feet short of the runway threshold. All of the passengers and crewmembers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight was being operated on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.