Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On February 9, 2006, approximately 1245 mountain standard time, a Canadair CL-600, N900LG, owned by Branblebush LLC, and piloted by an airline transport pilot, was substantially damaged while landing at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport (ASE), Aspen, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The business flight was being conducted under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. The pilot, co-pilot, and passenger were not injured. The cross-country flight departed Van Nuys, California, at 1045.

According to the pilot, he was landing on runway 15 (7,006 feet by 100 feet, asphalt) when the airplane encountered wake vortices from a BAe 146, which had just departed runway 33. At 50 feet above ground level, the airplane rolled hard to the left and the stall warning horn activated. The pilot added power and the airplane rolled hard to the right. The pilot was able to stop the roll; however, the nose dropped and the right main landing gear impacted the runway. The pilot reduced the power to "idle" and attempted to maintain runway centerline. The right main landing gear strut penetrated the right wing, the leading edge of the right wing was crushed aft, and the right aft wing spar was bent and buckled. The pilot did not report any anomalies with the airframe, flight controls, engines, or weather.

The airplane was equipped with a Fairchild Model A-100A cockpit voice recorder. This recorder was removed and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board's Vehicle Recorder Division for readout and a summary transcript was prepared. The recording was 31 minutes and 15 seconds in length and times are expressed in elapsed time only. According to the transcript, the accident airplane was cleared to land 26 minutes and 33 seconds into the recording. At this time, the controller reported that the winds were calm. At 28 minutes and 46 seconds, the BAe 146 was cleared for takeoff and the crew of the accident airplane commented to each other "airplane's on the roll." At 31 minutes at 09 seconds, the recorder captured a comment about "plus five sinking five", and at 31 minutes and 12 seconds, a stall warning horn was heard for 1.08 seconds. At 31 minutes and 15 seconds, the sound of an impact was captured. the flight's encounter with wake turbulence from the departing airplane resulting in the pilot's inability to control the airplane and the subsequent impact with the runway.