A Second Grand Aire Accident

[trainerjet]

This seems a little bizzare, but it appears another Grand Aire aircraft was involved in an accident in St. Louis.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=38559

 

[Timebuilder]

Incredible. Two in a day?

I'd guess they'll be closed down.

 

[banned username 2]

Holy Crap.... 2 in one day from the same small company...

My thought and prayers go out to all those families affected.

 

[ultrarunner]

Grand Aire crash

Plane crashes near Toledo, Ohio, airport, killing 3, sheriff says

By JOHN SEEWER
The Associated Press
4/8/03 9:37 PM

SWANTON, Ohio (AP) -- A twin-engine jet crashed in flames Tuesday as it approached the Toledo airport, killing all three people on board, a sheriff said.

The Falcon 20 turbo jet, which had left from Traverse City, Mich., went down about 2 p.m. in a nature preserve a mile southwest of the airport. The flames were extinguished about two hours later.

Killed were Dave Davenport, 40, of Elmore, Ohio; Will Forshay, 37, of Maumee, Ohio; and Wallis Bouldin, 34, of Louisville, Ky., the State Highway Patrol said. The three were employees of Grand Aire Inc., a charter company based in suburban Toledo that owned the plane, Lucas County Sheriff James Telb said.

Tahir Cheema, Grand Aire's owner and president, said all three were experienced pilots, but he declined further comment.

Air traffic controllers alerted authorities when the plane dropped off radar, Telb said. Sheriff's deputies and park rangers discovered the wreckage in a remote area thick with brush and leaves after following a horse trail toward smoke.

"It was really difficult to reach it and even find it," said Mike George, fire chief for the Ohio National Guard unit based at the airport, which is about 15 miles west of Toledo in Swanton.

The wreckage lay in a heap surrounded by yellow police tape, still smoldering hours after the crash.

The National Transportation Safety Board sent an investigator to the crash site.

Grand Aire offers passenger and freight charter services.

On July 18, a twin-engine plane owned by the company crashed as it attempted to land in dense fog at an airport in Columbus, Ind. The pilot was killed.

 

[jdru25]

That is very ironic for two airplanes from the same company to crash on the same day. It will be interesting to see what the NTSB finds out in both accidents. My prayers go out to those involved and their families. Godspeed.

 

[Flying Illini]

This kinda puts my bad day into perspective.

God bless the families and crew





-eagerly awaiting news of what may have caused the accidents.

 

[Corbon]

Saleem Iqbal and 44 year old Mohammed Saleh.

Interesting names, don't ya think?

 

[T-Gates]

Extremely thought provoking events with Grand Aire. I'm very curious as to what happened in both incidents.

My thoughts and prayers to all affected.......

--03M

 

[I.P. Freley]

As interesting as the names of the pilots are, I find it even MORE interesting that they both survived a "landing" in the Mississippi River!

I mean... We must presume that it was an intentional ditching, right? I wonder what the "mechanical problem" was that prompted them to break off the first approach.

 

[flx757]

An article in the St. Louis paper seems to indicate they missed the first approach due to low visibility, then while "circling" for another approach, informed ATC of a low fuel status. I think this is the "distress" call that the article in this thread refers to.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch article