Sad day, again

[Bill Greenwood]

There was an accident yesterday, of a Bonanza, at Telluride, fatal to the couple and 3rd man on board. I really feel bad about this on several levels. 1 It happened at a ski resort town, like the one I live and love, 2 It was a Bonanza like I fly, 3. Like so many other gen av accidents in normal planes, it was likely caused by or related to bad weather.

Two things stand out in the news reports, one they were departing Telluride, which in absolutely beautiful place to visit, perhaps the most beautiful in our state that is filled with great places.
But it looks like a scene in the Swiss Alps, it really is in the middle of towering and rugged 14,000 mountains and very unforgiving terrain. There is a deep rocky canyon just off the west end of the runway and no good landing area if there is a problem.

Two, They took off "IN ONE MILE VISIBILITY IN LIGHT SNOW".

The people are said to be from Arizona, no details yet about their flying background are experience. Maybe they had been flying into Telluride for years or maybe the had mountain experience in Az. I don't know anything more than I read in the news reports.
But if they had asked me if they should take off in IMC weather in that environment, I would have tried to talk them out of it.

I do a forum at Oshkosh and/or Sun N Fun on Mountain Flying since I have lived and flown here for 35 years, and one of the main two points I make is to fly only in good weather. The mountains are fine on a CAVU day, in some ways easier to fly than say L A or east coast due to our great visibility. But they are unforgiving if you don't have that good weather on your side.

I was trying to fly from Aspen to Denver both Fri and Sat and didn't go due to bad weather, there were clouds, and a warnings for icing, turbulence , and imc areas. I finally flew over to Den Centennial 9:30 Sun morning, and they weather was ok, not great. I didn't pay much attention to conditions west of Aspen since I wasn't going that way, but I did notice clouds down to the mountain tops just to the west and I had to fly under an overcast at 13,000 the first part till past Eagle. I think the accident was near 2 hours after I flew.

I just hate to see a loss of lives like this, when what was probably a great vacation in a great place turns bad.

[1600vw]

May those involved and the families find piece and may God watch over those lost and still on this earth.

Tony

[Floatsflyer]

No idea if "gethomeitis" was the underlying motivator in this tragic case, but too often it is. We need to eradicate this disease in our lifetime! Knew someone with a beautiful 206 on amphibs. He was very experienced. In an effort to get home from the cottage by a certain time, he neglected to pump out the floats. The plane was airborne/climbing when it stalled into the trees, killing him and his companion.

[Check 6]

The husband/wife occupants were US Airways and UAL captains respectively. The third occupant was a former military pilot.

RIP