The NTSB’s recently released factual report on the fatal crash of a chartered Gulfstream III at Aspen (Colo.) Airport (ASE) last March 29 does not provide a determination of cause. However transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder, ATC and preflight FSS briefing, coupled with the Safety Board’s interviews with ATC personnel and others in its investigation to date, clearly indicate that the crew was pre-occupied with several vital issues that may turn out to be factors in the probable cause determination, which is still several months away.
According to the Safety Board, the pilots were aware even before takeoff from Burbank, Calif., that the weather at ASE was marginal and deteriorating. During the flight, the crew expressed concern that if they didn’t make ASE on the first approach, they would have to divert to Rifle because of their fuel situation. (Rifle is 43.9 nm from Aspen.) The crew also recognized that they were closing in on a Stage 2 night curfew, effective 30 min after official sunset, 6:58 p.m. on the day of the accident. The airplane crashed four minutes after the curfew was in place–at 7:02 p.m.–killing the two pilots, the flight attendant and all 15 passengers (AIN, May, page 1).
