The airplane collided with terrain at about 1040 Mountain time during a circling instrument approach. The Airline Transport pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A witness later stated a whistling noise got his attention. He looked up and saw an airplane below the cloud bases, turning to the right. Its attitude was about 75 to 80 degrees nose low. It made six to seven turns before it disappeared from sight behind terrain, and the radius of the turn got tighter as the airplane descended. He did not see any smoke, and the airplane appeared to be intact. Preliminary ATC information indicated the airplane had descended on a straight track from cruising at FL380. The last reported radar target was a couple of minutes before the accident when the airplane was at a Mode C-reported altitude of 11,100 feet. A local observation at the time of the accident included winds from 230 degrees at 12 knots; visibility 10 miles and skies 1700 feet scattered, 3000 feet scattered, 3900 feet overcast. The fields elevation is 5241 feet.
May 3, 2007, Dillon, Mon., Cessna S550 Citation
The airplane collided with terrain at about 1040 Mountain time during a circling instrument approach. The Airline Transport pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A witness later stated a whistling noise got his attention. He looked up and saw an airplane below the cloud bases, turning to the right. Its attitude was about 75 to 80 degrees nose low. It made six to seven turns before it disappeared from sight behind terrain, and the radius of the turn got tighter as the airplane descended. He did not see any smoke, and the airplane appeared to be intact.
Key Takeaways:
- An airplane collided with terrain during a circling instrument approach, resulting in fatal injuries for the pilot and one passenger, and destruction of the aircraft.
- A witness observed the airplane below cloud bases in a steep 75-80 degree nose-low attitude, making six to seven tightening right turns before it disappeared.
- The aircraft had descended from FL380, with its last radar contact at 11,100 feet a couple of minutes prior to the accident.
- Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, despite scattered clouds at 1700 and 3000 feet, and an overcast layer at 3900 feet.
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