Crash of Glo-Air Flight 73

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Glo-Air Flight 73

On November 28, 2004 at about 10:00 a.m. mountain standard time, a Canadair (now Bombardier) CL-600-2A12 (Challenger 600), tail number N873G, crashed into the ground during takeoff at Montrose Regional Airport (MJT), Montrose, Colorado. The aircraft was registered to Hop-a-Jet, Inc., and operated by Air Castle Corporation doing business as Global Aviation. (Insert Here)The flight was operating under Part 135 Code of Federal Regulations. The captain filed the flight under an IFR Flight plan. Of the six passengers on board, three died from fatal injuries and the other three sustained major injuries. The aircraft was totaled due to the impact with the ground and a post-crash fire.
The flight had come in from Van Nuys Airport (VNY), Van Nuys, California. Witnesses recall that the plane had landed and parked at the FBO to receive some fuel. The plane had sat on the ramp for approximately 45 minutes before it took off again. While on the ramp, numerous witnesses recalled snow falling and “contaminating” the wings of the planes. Before the plane had taken off, witnesses said that they did not see either of the pilots inspect the wings for icing conditions and snow buildup. The METAR for the airport was, “wind calm, visibility 1 ¼ miles in light snow and mist, few clouds at 500 feet, overcast at 900 feet, temperature 1°C and dew point -2°C.”(Insert here) The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recorded the captain asking the pilot, “How do you see the wings.” The first officer replied, “Good.” And the captain said back, “Looks clear to me”.(Insert here) The captain turned on the engine bleeds which help keep icing conditions down. A downfall with engine bleeds is that they reduce the take off distance. The captain then proc...

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...e ultimately saved that flight. Before getting back into the plane, he could have taken a moment to walk around and look at how the snow was affecting the wings. He would have seen that snow was collecting on the surface and could have made a decision to have the plane de-iced and had a coat of anti-ice on. They could have been more patient with the plow truck. Gave the plow truck more time to clear the runway then get off. Then he would have never had to turn off the engine bleeds to obtain a shorter take off distance. The pilot could have made a decision to hold off on the departure till the weather got better. With the ceiling at 900 feet and visibility at 1 ¼ doesn’t offer much room for error. I feel as if the pilots had made a decision to change at least one of these things, the plane would have never crashed. It is a good learning experience for other pilots.

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