Charter/Taxi (Non Scheduled Revenue Flight)

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 crew members 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.

On a night approach to Monrovia-Roberts Airport, at an altitude of about 600 feet, the crew encountered local patches of fog and visual contact with the runway was momentarily lost by the pilot-in-command. Nevertheless, he decided to continue the approach when the aircraft landed hard on runway 04. The aircraft bounced twice then lost its both right engines. Out of control, it veered off runway and came to rest about 200 metres further. All 182 occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

On 22 March 2001 at about 17h35, the PA-31-350 Chieftain registered PH-ABD, call sign Tulip 2B, began its takeoff from runway 23 at Orléans-Saint Denis de l’Hôtel for an IFR departure to Paris-Le Bourget. The flight was passenger charter flight TLP2B. The pilot flying, who was the co-pilot seated in the left seat, was unable to perform the rotation. He aborted the takeoff but braking failed to stop the aircraft before the end of the runway. The runway surface was wet. Marks were left by the tyres from one hundred metres before the end of the runway. The aircraft ran across grass soaked with water. The nose gear broke and the aircraft came to a stop about one hundred and eighty metres after the end of the runway. The crew had forgotten to remove the flight control locking device.

The twin engine aircraft departed Douala on a charter flight to N'Djamena, carrying one pilot, one steward and two members of the Chadian Government. While approaching N'Djamena Airport, weather conditions deteriorated and the visibility was limited due to a sand storm. Probably to establish a visual contact with the ground, the pilot reduced his altitude when the aircraft struck a tree and crashed about 3 km from the runway 05 threshold, near Kousséri, Cameroon. The steward was seriously injured while all three other occupants were killed, among them the pilot, a Spanish citizen and both passengers who were Amderamane Dadi, General Secretary of the Presidency, and Ali Ahmed Lanine, Chadian Minister for Economic Promotion and Development.

On final approach to Macapá Airport, the left engine exploded and caught fire. The aircraft lost height, descended below the glide and eventually crash landed in a grassy area to the right of the runway and came to rest, bursting into flames. All five occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The airplane was on an on-demand air-taxi flight operating under 14 CFR Part 135 and was destroyed when it impacted trees and terrain while circling to land during a non-precision instrument approach at night. The airplane came to rest 1.74 nautical miles and 226 degrees magnetic from the intended airport. A weather briefing was obtained and instrument meteorological conditions were present along the route of flight at the time of the briefing. Weather conditions for the two reporting stations closest to the destination were obtained by the airplane prior to executing the approach. The weather reports listed ceilings and visibilities as 400 to 500 feet overcast and 5 to 7 statute miles. The airport elevation is 669 feet and the minimum descent altitude for the approach was listed as 1,240 feet. There was no weather reporting station at the destination airport at the time of the accident. According to the operators General Operations Manual, the pilot was responsible for the dispatch of the airplane including flight planning, and confirming departure, en-route, arrival and terminal operations compliance. The manual also states, "For airports without weather reporting, the area forecast and reports from airports in the vicinity must indicate that the weather conditions will be VFR [visual flight rules] at the ETA so as to allow the aircraft to terminate the IFR operations and land under VFR. (Note: a visual approach is not approved without weather reporting)." For 14 CFR Part 135 instrument flight operations conducted at an airport, federal regulations require weather observations at that airport. Furthermore, the regulations state that, for 14 CFR Part 135 operations, an instrument approach cannot be initiated unless approved weather information is available at the airport where the instrument approach is located, and the weather information indicates that the weather conditions are at or above the authorized minimums for the approach procedure. The commercial pilot held a type rating for the accident airplane. The right seat occupant was a commercial pilot employed by the operator and did not hold an appropriate type rating for the accident airplane. The pitch trim selector switch was found set to the co-pilot side. The regulations state that 14 CFR Part 135 operators cannot use the services of any person as an airman unless that person is appropriately qualified for the operation for which the person is to be used. The circling approach was made over primarily unlit land and water. An FAA publication states that during night operations, "Distance may be deceptive at night due to limited lighting conditions. A lack of intervening Page 2 of 17 CHI01FA083 references on the ground and the inability of the pilot to compare the size and location of different ground objects cause this. This also applies to the estimation of altitude and speed. Consequently, more dependence must be placed on flight instruments, particularly the altimeter and the airspeed indicator." No anomalies were found with respect to the airframe, engines, or systems that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.

On January 27, 2001, about 1737 mountain standard time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) Super King Air 200, N81PF, owned by North Bay Charter, LLC, and operated by Jet Express Services, crashed into rolling terrain near Strasburg, Colorado. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight departed about 1718 from Jefferson County Airport (BJC), Broomfield, Colorado, with two pilots and eight passengers aboard. The pilot who occupied the left seat in the cockpit was solely responsible for the flight. The pilot who occupied the right seat in the cockpit, referred to in this report as the "second pilot," was not a required flight crewmember. N81PF was one of three airplanes transporting members of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) basketball team and associated team personnel to Stillwater Regional Airport (SWO), Stillwater, Oklahoma, after a game at the University of Colorado at Boulder that afternoon. All 10 occupants aboard N81PF were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident.

Shortly after takeoff from Ciudad Bolívar Airport, while climbing, the crew declared an emergency following an engine failure and was cleared for an immediate return. The crew made a turn and while approaching runway 07, the aircraft stalled and crashed near the district of El Perú, bursting into flames. The wreckage was found about 3 km short of runway. The aircraft was totally destroyed by a post crash fire and all 24 occupants were killed, among them 6 US citizens, five Dutch, four Italians, two Hungarian, one Austrian and six Venezuelan. Also, a young woman and her both children who were standing at the crash site were seriously injured.

On December 20, 2000, about 1045 mountain standard time, a Cessna 402B, N908AB, registered to Pitts Aviation, Inc., and operated by TS Aviation, as a Costa Rican air taxi flight from Nosara, Costa Rica, to San Jose, Costa Rica, crashed while making a forced landing following loss of engine power shortly after takeoff from Nosara. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot and one passenger received serious injuries. Five passengers received minor injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. Civil aviation authorities reported the flight had a loss of power in one engine during initial climb after takeoff, was unable to maintain altitude, and collided with trees. A post crash fire erupted.

The airplane was flying a full instrument landing system (ILS) approach to runway 18 at a high altitude airport (elevation 6,445 feet), in a mountainous area, at night. The control tower was closed for the night. The airport was located in a national park, and, therefore, the runway lights were not left on during the night. During non-tower operation hours, the procedure for turning on the runway lights called for the pilot to key the microphone multiple times on the Common Traffic Advisory Frequency (CTAF), which was the tower frequency. The copilot of the accident airplane made multiple attempts to turn on the runway lights using the UNICOM frequency, which had been the CTAF until about 6 months before the accident. The captain continued his landing approach below approach minimums without the runway lights being on. While in the landing flare, the captain reported that strong cross-winds and blowing snow created a "white-out" weather condition. The airplane touched down 195 feet left of the runway centerline in snow covered terrain between the runway and taxiway. Two ILS Runway 18 approach plates were found in the airplane. One was out of date and showed the UNICOM frequency as the CTAF. The other was current and showed the tower frequency as the CTAF. All four occupants escaped uninjured, among them the actress Sandra Bullock and the musician Bob Schneider.