Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On December 20, 2008, at 1951 mountain standard time, a twin-engine Hawker Beechcraft 58P airplane, C-GGBT, was destroyed when it impacted terrain following a loss of control near Stonewall, Colorado. The private pilot and the sole passenger sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by Mauroil International Inc., of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The first leg of the two part cross-country flight had originated earlier that day from the Great Falls International Airport (GTF), Great Falls, Montana, and had concluded at the Pueblo Memorial Airport (PUB), Pueblo, Colorado, for a planned fuel stop. The second leg of the flight originated from PUB at 1915 with the Santa Fe Municipal Airport (SAF), Santa Fe, New Mexico, as the intended destination.

A review of radar information revealed that following departure the airplane climbed to and leveled off at 18,000 feet mean sea level (MSL). (All altitudes listed in this report are MSL unless otherwise noted) Approximately 32 minutes later the airplane was flying on a heading of 207 degrees and was approaching a ridge of mountains that ran in a north south direction. When the airplane was about four and a half miles east of the ridgeline, it began an uncontrolled descent toward an area of rising mountainous terrain. During the last radio transmissions from the pilot, he reported having serious difficulties; however, he was unsure what the problem was. The last known radar position placed the airplane at 12,800 feet and one mile east of Vermejo Peak with a summit of 13,367 feet. A short time later a ground fire was reported by a passing airplane in the vicinity of the accident airplane’s last known coordinates.

The pilot from the passing airplane submitted a written statement about what he observed while circling over the accident airplane. The pilot was flying a pressurized Cessna 210, equipped with an Allison 250 turbo-propeller engine that was capable of producing 450 horse power (HP). While approaching the accident area at 19,000 feet the Cessna pilot spotted a ground fire that he believed was the accident airplane. While circling the wreckage, he realized that his airplane was descending and added engine power thinking it was poor piloting technique. After reporting the fire to air traffic control (ATC), he noticed that his airplane’s attitude was now down to 18,500 feet and the engine was already at full power. The Cessna pilot informed ATC that he was in an area of downdraft and they cleared him for a block altitude of 17,000 to 19,000 feet. During this time his airplane continued an uncontrolled descent at 500 feet per minute (fpm), and the Cessna pilot estimated that the airplane should have been climbing at 1,000 fpm. The Cessna pilot elected to leave the area to the south and