April 8, 2003 crash of Grand Aire Express
April 8, 2003
NTSB preliminary information, NTSB identification: NYC03FA080
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20030421X00535&key=1
April 8, 2003
NTSB preliminary information, NTSB identification: CHI03FA099
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20030418X00531&key=1
April 8, 2003
Toledo Blade
Plane crashes, burns in Toledo nature preserve; 3 die
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Avis=TO&Dato=20030408&Kategori=NEWS11&Lopenr=104080127&Ref=AR
April 8, 2003
WTVG, 13ABC.COM
Plane Crash near Airport Hwy
http://www.13abc.com/index.cfm?Article=7135&SecName=28&Level=1&SubID=0&Itm=&SideID=&IsItm=
April 8 2003
WTOL.COM, 11CBS
Company Suffers Two Crashes Hours Apart
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1221656
April 8 2003
WTOL.COM, 11CBS
Six accident/incidents on file with the National Transportation Safety Board
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=1222207
April 8, 2003
NBC24.COM
Plane Crashes Near Toledo Express, Killing Three
http://www.nbc24.com/Global/story.asp?S=1221679&nav=1aI4F6oE
April 8, 2003
NBC24.COM
Second Grand Aire Crash Near St. Louis
http://www.nbc24.com/Global/story.asp?S=1222647&nav=1aI4F7X3
April 9, 2003
KSDK.COM, MSNBC
Charter Jet Crashes Into Mississippi River
http://www.ksdk.com/news/news_article_lc.asp?storyid=38559
April 9, 2003
Monroenews.com
Grand Aire planes crash; 3 die near Toledo Express
http://www.monroenews.com/articles/2003/04/09/export12958.txt
April 9, 2003
Toledo Blade
Jet crashes kill 3 in Oak Openings, hurt 2 in St. Louis; Toledo-owned Grand Aire loses 2 planes on same day
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TO&Date=20030409&Category=NEWS11&ArtNo=104090093&Ref=AR
April 9, 2003
Toledo Blade
Grand Aire fatal accident 2nd since July
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Site=TO&Date=20030409&Category=NEWS11&ArtNo=104090126&Ref=AR
April 9, 2003
Victims in local crash recalled as eager, capable pilots
Toledo Blade
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?Date=20030409&Category=NEWS11&ArtNo=104090094&Ref=AR
April 12, 2003
Associated Press
Probe widens in 2 crashes
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2003/04/12/loc_oh-planecrash12.html
April 2003
Flytoledo.com
Grand Aire Express: Crashes of April 8th 2003
http://flytoledo.com/gaecrash.html
May 11, 2003
Toledo Blade
Freight flights more likely to crash, burn
When it comes to accidents, Grand Aire has few peers
http://home.att.net/~emery17now/may1103blade.htm
January 14, 2005
Plane ran out of gas, ditched, NTSB says
Grand Aire aircraft headed
for St. Louis
By CHRISTOPHER D. KIRKPATRICK
BLADE STAFF WRITER
As a Grand Aire cargo plane,
packed to near its weight limit, was nearing a St. Louis
airport in the spring of 2003, an air traffic controller requested that the
pilot take the plane to 5,000 feet and approach again.
That was a fateful decision on an already fateful day as the
plane, apparently running on its last drops of fuel, ditched in the Mississippi
River near Lambert-St. Louis
International Airport.
The two pilots survived with injuries.
Only hours earlier that day in 2003, another Grand Aire plane, on a training flight, crashed near Toledo
Express Airport
and killed the three pilots aboard.
The National Transportation Safety Board released its
finding of facts this week on the St. Louis
crash. It did not reach a conclusion about a cause. That comes in another
report.
But it recounted the conversation between the pilot and the
tower and confirmed the pilot believed he ran out of fuel and the two jet
engines on the Dassault Falcon 20 quit operating,
forcing him to ditch.
Art Atar, chief executive officer
since Grand Aire owner Tahir
Cheema was killed Dec. 6 in yet another crash at St.
Louis, said he would have to read the NTSB report
before commenting. He did say he believed there could be mitigating
circumstances because the tower requested that the plane climb back to 5,000
feet.
"They asked for landing position. They were put on
hold," he said.
The report does offer insight into tower communications with
the pilot and confirms that the pilot did not talk about his fuel situation
until a few minutes before the crash. The pilot did express a sense of urgency
in wanting to land, the record shows.
At 6:36 p.m., an
air traffic controller asks the Grand Aire pilot to
climb to 5,000 feet.
At 6:43 p.m., the
pilot asks the tower if the second landing could be hurried.
A few seconds later, the tower responds: "OK. I'll turn
you in sooner."
At 6:45 p.m., the
pilot mentions fuel: "Yes sir, how far are we gonna
go on the two zero two, we might have uh little bit uh fuel limitation
here."
At 6:48 p.m., the
pilot declares an emergency. A few minutes later, he ditches the plane.
Investigating if the plane did indeed run out of fuel was
difficult because of the water, said Ted Lopatkiewicz,
a NTSB spokesman.
"Let's say the plane did run out of fuel, you wouldn't
have a post-crash fire. But that wouldn't work in this one because the plane
went into the water. With an accident like this in the river, you don't have
those kinds of clues," he said.
Other than the 9/11 terrorist attacks, no other company has
endured two crashes in a single day, gaining the small air cargo company an
infamous footnote in aviation history.
For the Toledo crash on April 8, 2003, the NTSB, in a June 3
report, blamed pilot error and concluded that neither the chief pilot, Wallis Bouldin, nor the man being trained to copilot another
Falcon 20, Will Forshay, turned on the plane's
anti-icing system on an afternoon with freezing mist. Fellow pilot David
Davenport, who was along for the ride, also was killed.
With wings coated with ice, about two miles out from the
airport, the empty cargo plane began losing speed quickly. - dropping altitude
until it crashed into trees about 1 1/2 miles short of the runway.
Contact Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
at: ckirkpatrick@theblade.com
or 419-724-6077.