Pilot Held PAX in 'Reckless Disregard.' Himself, Too, Apparently

Lawyers have convinced grieving families that going to trial is the best option for them, to capitalize on the sadness they all felt two years ago.

It was March 29, 2001, and an Avjet-operated Gulfstream III messed up on approach into the high-altitude mountain airport at Aspen (CO). All aboard were killed. An NTSB report showed how several factors (including how the pilots busted the MDA without apparently having established visual contact, and how a NOTAM prohibiting circling at night hadn't been communicated) were contributory.

Attorneys started convincing the jury on Monday that the pilots were so bereft of reason that they "ran red lights," and continued the descent, in which they both died. There may be something to those arguments. For whatever reasons, the pilots seemed preoccupied with getting that visual fix. We reported a year ago, "Conversations recorded by the CVR during the last 2 minutes of flight suggest that the flight crew was preoccupied with looking outside the cockpit in an attempt to visually locate the airport. As a result, the captain continued flight below the authorized MDA after failing to establish or maintain visual contact with the runway. The first officer did not challenge the captain’s actions."

Avjet has admitted liability; the trial, held in Los Angeles, is about (the as-yet-unspecified) damages.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20010412X00738&key=1