Page 18 - Volume 16 Number 4

Late in the day on March 29, Miss 2001, a chartered Gulfstream
jet was en route from its West
Coast base to a mountain airport,
racing to meet the airport’s night- closure deadline on a weather-laced evening. The passengers had showed up late for their departure; the result of this tardiness was that the crew would be left with only a few minutes to execute the approach, or else landing would be prohibited. Snow had begun to fall at the mountain valley destination, and both initial approach and minimum altitudes for the airport’s IAP were high, for very valid reasons.
Because the airport was hemmed in with high terrain on three sides, the approach procedure required a minimum of two miles of visibility and the MDA was 10,200 feet MSL, roughly 2,400 feet above the airport’s elevation. It was a circle- to-land procedure with high terrain nearby, so night approaches were not authorized. This restriction notwithstanding, and even though darkness had fallen early in the depths of the mountain valley, an approach clearance was issued, due to a vague interpretation of the night
LeRoy Cook
prohibition. This was an entirely separate matter from the airport’s nighttime noise curfew. And now, despite the relatively benign weather reports received earlier, snow showers were moving in to bring restricted visibility.
Clearly, this rock-filled cul-de- sac was no place for boldness and haste. However, there was a certain amount of pressure being placed on the crew to execute the approach. Money had been paid and services were expected. The reputation of the operator was on the line and professional performance was imperative. Thus, into the valley of snow rode the crew of the G-III...
The outcome of the mission was not the uneventful arrival the fifteen resort-bound revelers were
expecting. Instead, the jet missed the obscured runway and flew into the ground 2,400 feet short and 300 feet to the right of the centerline, coming to rest as a burning, crumbled heap of debris. The subsequent investigation revealed no failure in the aircraft, simply a clear case of CFIT, or controlled flight into terrain.
Where Did The Pilots Err?
Can we chalk it up to a poorly- trained or slipshod-performing crew? No, the pilots had been doing their job properly until the final moments, when they attempted to press on with a bit too much alacrity after ground contact had been established, despite the challenging conditions. Were there rules being bent, prior to the ill-
16 TWIN & TURBINE
APRIL 2012
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