DEN91FA043
1991-02-13 · ASPEN, Colorado, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport ASE
N535PC has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PILATUS AIRCRAFT LTD PC-12/47E, built 2008), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The flight crew's failure to maintain airspeed and control of the airplane while maneuvering to land. Contributing factors were the flight crew's execution of an unstabilized approach and the surrounding snow-covered mountainous terrain.
Factual narrative
The flight crew reported to the tower controller that they were over the airport and requested a right downwind circling approach to runway 15. The tower controller and other witnesses observed the airplane in a steep right bank on base leg. The airplane overshot the extended runway centerline. The tower controller observed the airplane entering a steeper right bank to correct back to the runway centerline. The controller stated that he observed the airplane "flutter" and then crash right-wing first, about one mile north of the runway threshold. Other witnesses reported a variety of indications consistent with a loss of control. The last recorded transmission was "Oh no you're (stall…)." The ( ) indicates that the word was questionable text. Both engines were producing about 1,700 pounds of thrust (2,561 pounds available). A snow squall had just passed over the airport and was obscuring mountains to the east. The terrain was snow covered. The accident occurred about eight minutes before official sunset. The approach procedure is not authorized at night or for category D airplanes. Minimums for the approach were three miles visibility with an MDA of 10,840 feet. Airport elevation is 7,815 feet. Both pilots were rated in the airplane. It could not be determined which pilot was at the controls at the time of the accident. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1991_DEN91FA043.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (stall, loss of control, unstabilized approach). All research papers
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2023 · Conference paper Utilizing Deep Learning to Predict Unstabilized Approaches for General Aviation Aircraft
Unstabilized approaches pose a major hazard for general aviation aircraft. In the period from 2009 to 2019, 3,257 general aviation accidents occurred during the landing phase of flight in which loss o…
- Semantic Scholar 2016 · Article (Interacción) Trajectory Recovery System: Angle of Attack Guidance for Inflight Loss of Control
This paper describes the design and development of an ecological display to aid pilots in the recovery of an In-Flight Loss of Control event due to a Stall (ILOC-S).
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2010 · Accident report Loss of Control on Approach — Colgan Air Flight 3407
Colgan Air 3407 / Continental Connection (Q400) Buffalo NY, February 12, 2009 — 50 fatalities. Definitive investigation of the Colgan 3407 stall-stick-pusher crash on approach to Buffalo.
- NASA NTRS 2026 · Conference Paper Computational Analysis of Steady State Aerodynamics of Transonic Truss-Braced Wing Configuration in Deep Stall
This study presents a computational investigation of steady state aerodynamics of the Subsonic Ultra-Green Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) configuration over a wide range …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER) A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.