Editors' Choice: Gulfstream III crew in Aspen crash
Weather, fuel and a curfew were clearly on the minds of pilot Robert Frisbie and copilot Peter Kowalczyk when they took off in a Gulfstream III from LAX fo
Weather, fuel and a curfew were clearly on the minds of pilot Robert Frisbie and copilot Peter Kowalczyk when they took off in a Gulfstream III from LAX for Aspen, Colo., in the late afternoon of March 29. Less than two hours later, the pilots, flight attendant and all 15 passengers were killed when the jet descended into terrain less than half a mile from the airport.
The pilots were aware before takeoff that the weather at Aspen was marginal. They were concerned that if they didn’t land on the first approach, they would have to divert because of their fuel situation. The crew also knew they were closing in on a Stage 2 night curfew, effective at 6:58 p.m. The airplane crashed at 7:02 p.m.
