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The 2001 Avjet Aspen crash occurred on March 29, 2001 when a chartered Gulfstream III business jet, operated by Avjet Corporation and registration N303GA, crashed into terrain while on instrument approach to Aspen–Pitkin County Airport, Aspen, Colorado. The three crew members and fifteen passengers on board all perished.〔(NTSB Report )〕 The subsequent National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) report concluded that the accident was caused by the captain's premature descent below the minimum descent altitude without visual reference to the runway. The accident's investigation also brought into focus several generic safety issues, such as pressure applied on charter pilots by customers; night flight into airports near mountainous terrain; and the ambiguity of some Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules.〔(Robert P. Mark, ''"Aspen crash prompts approach controversy"'', AIN Online, August 2002 )〕 ==Flight history== The captain and first officer reported for duty at Avjet's Burbank, California facility around noon on the day of the accident. After checking the weather and the aircraft, they embarked on an 11-minute repositioning flight to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to pick up their passengers. The flight was originally scheduled to leave LAX at 16:30 MST, but departed after a 41-minute delay for late passengers at 17:11 MST.〔〔 Earlier in the day, an FAA specialist had informed the crew that it would be illegal to land at night in Aspen under instrument flight rules. In addition, the crew were aware that due to noise abatement restrictions, their jet aircraft was required to land at Aspen by the 18:58 MST night curfew. Following the delayed departure from LAX, their estimated arrival time was 18:46 MST, twelve minutes before the curfew took effect.〔〔 As the flight approached Aspen–Pitkin County Airport, it became evident that some of the other inbound flights were performing missed approaches, as they had been unable to complete an instrument approach to the airport's runway. The airport is surrounded by high terrain on all sides and a fairly steep descent is required in order to land.〔〔 At 18:56:06 MST, the flight was cleared for the VOR/DME-C instrument approach to the airport, whereupon it proceeded to the Red Table VOR, executed a sequence of designated step-down maneuvers and began final approach to the runway. As it continued its descent past the missed approach point – where the runway must be in sight to continue – the pilots had still not visually located the runway in the increasing darkness and snow showers. At 19:01:57 MST, while in a steep left bank, the aircraft crashed into the terrain, killing all 18 persons on board.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2001 Avjet Aspen crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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