Accident Case Study: Into Thin Air 

This video just came out at an eerily coincidental time for me. My dad and I are looking at buying a Bonanza out in California and flying it home to the east coast using a safety pilot. I think I might pass until I have some more mountain flying training. Edit/update: I've decided to go ahead with the purchase. Will be flying south around the mountains. Edit/update 2: I've done it! Safely home in Virginia. Absolutely loved the flight.

I'd like to take a second to acknowledge the narrator for this series. He has the perfect, gentle voice inflection for these.

The pilot, Dr. Cohen was a well known dentist from Manhattan, who helped with rescue efforts during 9/11 and went to Haiti to help with a medical hospital’s efforts after the 2010 earthquake. May he and his friend rest in peace.

As FS2020 is used to represent this flight visually, I thought it might be interesting to fly the same route in the same simulated conditions as these poor guys faced. 77 deg F and high humidity, scattered clouds in a Piper Arrow III. Nearest plane I could find to the G36. Although there is a G36 in the sim I think it might be a more powerful variant. Anyway, I took off from Aspen (KASE) and flew an ascending circuit around the field for two loops and did achieve just over 10,000ft. Set off on the same route the pilots took. After about 19mins of flying, I found myself in an ascending valley and, although I hate to admit it, despite being forewarned, I could not find a way of aborting, as my plane was at about 75kts airspeed, barely able to climb at all, with the ground getting too close to for comfort. I eventually stalled a wing whilst trying to turn at too low an airspeed and crashed. I made a second attempt except this time I performed four loops of Aspen and managed to limp up to 11,200ft before setting off East. Despite some very hairy moments and a few branches in the undercarriage (not literally as UC was retracted), this time I made it and carried on my flight to Colorado springs. I am only a sim pilot from the UK but with 465 hours in sim. I have learned a fascinating lesson about Density Altitude. My Piper Arrow was barely able to climb at all despite very careful mixture management. Was surprised tbh, just how accurately the sim reproduced these conditions. Really felt how desperate those guys must have been when they realised they had no way out. Sad story.

"We're gonna make that decision once we takeoff and see what's going on" illustrates how woefully unprepared the pilots were of the dangers lurking in the mountains. Independence Pass is not for the faint at heart, but the pass they actually followed is not even on the aeronautical charts.

The final minutes must have been agonizing; to be in full control of the plane but all valid navigational options exhausted and nothing to do but contemplate the oncoming terrain. What a sad end. At least we can learn from the lesson.

I was struck by the comment “recent purchase of the B-36” and “five hour and twenty minute flight into Aspen.” How well did this pilot know his airplane? How tired can you be after a five hour flight, in hot afternoon turbulence, to boot? Who flies over mountains into Aspen with a half-hour reserve? Who takes off from a 10,000’ density altitude airport with a full load of fuel? Who among us knows their blood/oxygen saturation levels and our flying judgement at 8, 9, 10,000 or higher feet? Late in the day for a single-engine flight over more mountains with one engine in the twilight and on into the night with no forced landing sites in sight? Who figures out their route of flight after they are airborne?

Once again a great video for all pilots to watch. A good pilot is always learning!

I hope the producers of "Accident Case Studies" know how very powerful these videos are, as opposed to reading about the events in a filed report. As previous comments have pointed out, the narrator plays a big part in this.

High density altitude wasn't the problem, taking off with no plan is the problem.

The first link in this accident chain was choosing Aspen for their fuel stop. The scenery on their chosen route is of course spectacular, but a more prudent choice would be a route across Wyoming paralleling I-80, which would have lower terrain to cross and a choice of airports at much lower elevations than Aspen. They cranked the risk factor up pretty high as soon as they left Napa with KASE programmed into the G1000.

7000 hour mountain cargo pilot here. If you ever get into a canyon turn situation what you do is the opposite of what you’d think. Best option is drop your flaps. Drop your gear. Slow down as slow as you can and make the turn. The rate of turn when you are slow is much higher. Slow down and you’d be surprised how fast you can get it around.

Very interesting watching this from West Aus where the land is so flat. Never even thought about flying to one side of a valley.

In addition to the high DA, Aspen airport is notoriously unforgiving. Too bad they hadn't talked with any local pilots about this before taking off. This is an excellent review for those of us who have been away from light piston aircraft for many years.

I will honor these men by doing my best to learn from their mistakes.

This video has firmly cemented in my mind that I'm not even going to attempt any mountain flying without an experienced local pilot in the plane with me. I'm one of those east coasters who lives on and flies over flat land. Thank you for publishing this. I wish flight schools would incorporate this video when discussing density altitude.

Great job putting this out in a timely fashion while focusing in part on the way even safety-conscious pilots might get lured into a trap. Also a great job of using technology to better illustrate the story without getting in the way of the story. Finally, great job of including the point near the end about the overall rising terrain while many pilots focus on the ridgeline. It reminds pilots to think about the viability of potential Plan B options and not just think about whether Plan A will work. Thanks AOPA ASI.

I love the perfect balance this series always strikes, it’s just as captivating and informative to a pilot as it is to an aviation layperson. My only complaint is there isn’t nearly enough episodes to watch!

The narrator in these is excellent, just wanted to say.

I did a similar thing once in my career, but we survived. I took off from a 1,249’ elevation airport (itself in a valley within mountainous terrain) in a Cessna 172 together with three college friends (heavy but not over gross weight). It was a short flight over the mountains surrounding us to an airport located in another valley on the other side just 25 miles away. After takeoff I was climbing at Vy and turned left to cross a ridge immediately in front of us. We might have orbited over the departure airport to gain altitude I don’t remember now it has been many decades. Being a recently certified CFI I should have had a better picture of what was happening. And just as the announcer in this AOPA video says the terrain below us was rapidly rising. I knew pulling back on the yoke to climb steeper wasn’t going to solve my problem. I remember being uncomfortably low as we crossed the ridge, probably less than 200’. But we did make it over the ridge. The weather was beautiful and clear, I don’t remember any significant wind. It was a great day to go flying with friends. At any time coming up to the low spot on the ridge I simply could have broken it off and turned either way to get over lower terrain and continue climbing to gain altitude and try again. Yet, I pressed on. Looking back on that flight I shudder. Inexperience led to me putting all of us in a dangerous position. I wasn’t feeling any pressure. I just didn’t understand what was really happening-and I should have. I'm sorry for their loss...........

I narrowly escaped a density altitude situation in the mountains shortly after getting my PPL. It’s a lesson you never forget!

The sky is clear, the air warm. Your aspirated aircraft’s normally impressive climb performance is sluggish, and you’re beginning a cross-country flight in the mountains. But you’ve flown in higher density altitudes than this, so you press on. You circle near the airport a few times after takeoff, to gain the altitude you need before cautiously making your ways towards the mountains. Then, with no warning, you’re in a valley. Mountain peaks rise above your aircraft on both sides. You scan your map for help, but you don’t find any. Somewhere, a voice is saying “you should have turned back”. You now have 178 seconds to live. The mountains in front of you are many miles away, but your vertical speed indicator reads only 200 feet per minute. You ease back on the controls to climb a bit faster, but your airspeed bleeds off, so you quickly lower the nose again. Your speed increases slightly, but now you’re climbing even slower than you were before, and the mountains are getting closer. You’re sure you’ll be above their peak in a few minutes… but you don’t have a few minutes. You now have 100 seconds to live. You look closely outside again, and are shocked to see the valley getting narrower. You estimate that there’s no more than half a mile between the peaks. You begin a 180 degree turn, but the thin air causes a low airspeed and a high groundspeed, making your turn radius much wider than normal. You have no choice but to turn back to your initial direction. The mountains don’t look so far in the distance anymore. You have 45 seconds to live. Now you’re sweating and shaking. The valley floor is getting higher, and you don’t have enough altitude for a tight, descending turn that allows airspeed to be maintained. You’re running out of room. You have 10 seconds to live. You realise you’re going to crash, and frantically look for a place to put your aircraft. You spot what appears to be a flat clearing and fly towards it, but it’s just another steep hill. You open your mouth to scream.

This is what just about did me in. Flying a rental 172 over the Smokies and just crossed the ridge going from wayward to leeward. Flying straight and level 3000 feet AGL and my altimeter started going down. So I increased power and the sink rate increased. At one point I was skimming tree tops following the contours. Only by deploying half flaps and going full power was I able to claw my way back up. Scariest flight of my career

Babe wake up, new Air Safety Institute video dropped

Not a pilot, just an enroute air traffic controller who also works a very very large "approach control" sector who enjoys learning what pilots are frequently up against. This was very enlightening for me, even with many years experience. Great video, and I have no doubt they save many lives. Thank you.

I took a mountain flying seminar + check prior to flying in the mountains. Extremely helpful and many of the errors they made during the flight would have not been made. Would recommend something similar to that, even just going up with someone experienced in mountain flying to get to teach you the basics. So many small errors that people don't even think of can be fatal in the mountains, but just being aware of them can help you avoid them entirely with minimal effort.

This is eary. Just minutes before this crash, I was flying over Marshal Pass (maximum elevation, 10,800 MSL, just 50 miles to the south of where this accident happened) with my family, en route from Grand Junction to Colorado Springs in a Cessna 172. I remember how hot it was that day, and how much it forced me to attend to the climb rate, and ensure I'd reached a safe altitude before heading for the pass. Combining that experience with this video truly makes the importance of density altitude calculations a lesson I will not forget for as long as I fly. Thank you for making this video.

Glad to see AOPA back on what they have done best with this channel. Points well made. Yes, DA. But you can just as easily get into a terrain trap at low DA if you fly up a valley you cannot turn about in. In that case there is no contingency, when common sense alone should tell you to always have an ‘out’.

Yes!!! New accident case study. One of my fave series on all of YT.

Absolutely boggles the mind. The decision to go into and out of Aspen in a normally-aspirated GA piston single without taking it extremely seriously is questionable from the start. Deciding while holding short that you're just going to wing it VFR and ask the tower while airborne which way you should go is simply astounding. These guys were dead before they ever left the ground. I just don't get it.

Watching this video gave me the chills. I'm not a pilot, but at an earlier time in my life I travelled frequently as a passenger on commercial airlines throughout the West and Southwest US. I love flight, and especially enjoy the exhilarating experience of takeoffs and landings. But one place always gave me white knuckles on takeoffs: Albuquerque, NM. With the runway at a mile high, the aircraft needed literally every foot of runway to become airborne. I remember looking out the window, my hands gripping the armrests as tightly as I could in an upward motion, and pushing my body up against my seatbelt, trying to help give the plane the lift it needed! And every time, the runway disappeared at the same instant the plane finally got lift. And the turbulence over the Sandia mountains is a whole 'nother story! Thanks and appreciation to all you commercial pilots and air traffic controllers out there.

I'm so glad these 'Accident Case Study' videos are back. I find them extremely fascinating. The addition of FS2020 footage is very enjoyable. Well done!

Holy cow I didn't even know altitude worked like this. I thought every plane was capable enough of climbing over mountains here (colorado) it's weird to think a plane can even be boxed in by mountains. Also I didn't know Aspen had an airport. This is very interesting. Thank you!

These usually always have a bad ending, but I absolutely love these videos! They are extremely informative and more interesting to watch than anything on tv. As much as I enjoy these videos, Rest In Peace to the ones that have lost their lives.

Awesome video. I have been to KASE many times. All of these videos are part of the curriculum at Berichi Aviation for all students completing any rating (I'm a CFI at Berichi). Keep putting these videos out. We watch each video then do a follow up lesson on it, complimenting part of the reason we have a 100% Safety Record. We definitely owe some of that credit to the AOPA Safety Institute. These videos make a positive impact on aviation safety and are excellent training aides for all pilot training. Thanks for all your hard work AOPA Safety Institute.

Can you imagine the drop in both of their stomachs when they made the grim realization that it was too late to make the turn and reverse course? 4:01 tells the whole story - "Unfamiliar with the area...." This was what sealed their fate, sadly. These videos are extremely educational and enlightening. I'm not a pilot, but in recent years, I've been "flying" along with Citation Max, Premier 1 Driver, etc and loving learning about the process of flying. RIP to both of these friends.

Only thing missing in this accident chain is they had changed the plan, and they didn’t have a plan before taking off. Those are red flags too.

Another excellent video. Let’s learn with accidents so we don’t get ourselves into one. All pilots have one kind of accident that would happen if he keeps his flying practices, we must identify what’s ours.

Best aviation channel on RU-vid! Thanks again!

I can't imagine not doing more homework before attempting a cross of the Rockies. Looks like little to none experience with Density Altitude effects and pre-planning. And how could they not know that they would be up at Oxygen altitudes??

"We're unfamiliar with the area..." A disturbing statement, in hindsight.

This is a great video. I hiked Midway Pass from Independence Pass 2 days after this crash in order to find the wreckage. Not sure where they got their information on the exact whereabouts of this crash but thy are correct. It was a TERRIBLE time to leave Aspen and were extremely ignorant of the height and respect Colorado mountains require. The only error I see in this video is winds were not 15 knots from the East.....prevailing is almost always from the west...which didn't help them. GA usually only flies for a couple hours in the morning mid-Summer here in the Rockies. Even if these guys would have made it over Midway Pass, their flight would have been extremely turbulent and uncomfortable. RIP and kudos to ASI/AOPA for this video.

"LIKE I SAID BEFORE, YOU GUYS DON'T MAKE ENOUGH OF THESE INFORMATIVE VIDEOS. THIS IS WORTH THE MEMBERSHIP."

I'm a flat lander, but I've flown cross country over mountains a number of times. Last time was in my Cessna 140. And yes...it is a humbling experience flying through the Rocky Mountains in an 85 HP airplane. Anyway, I learned quickly that you better pick the right pass for your airplane and crunch the numbers BEFORE you take off...that is an unforgiving necessity. Once again, really excellent video!

As a training CFI, I'll be happy to share AOPA's content with my students. Good production and lessons to be learned as always

It's a real shame that some people don't ever seem to take advantage of the hard won lessons afforded to them by experience and history. They might have had the chance to talk to another pilot who was from the area there and who could've not only told them the best routes to take (whether they intended to go the route they did or just make a mistake), but also advised them to either plan to circle higher or maybe even suggest pulling the plug on the flight for the day. I could see either planning to leave with a lighter fuel load to improve climb performance and make an intermediate quick fuel stop, or if weather promises to be more favorable in the morning, which it might well, plan to just pick it up in the morning.

This is so immaculately well produced, both from the way the content is presented but from the quality of the visual production itself. Superb. As a NY pilot, the first time I flew along the grand canyon was absolutely mind-opening in terms of DA, having never encountered those altitudes before in my flying. Unfortunately, I think the narrator's point that DA is a concept that we all learn but is usually hard to truly understand until you experience it is probably very true. Took every precaution on my flight and did everything rigorously by the book, but despite fully expecting it even I was a bit shocked by just how much worse the plane's performance was than what I was "used to", beginning from the length of the take-off roll onwards. Many thanks for the AOPA for providing such a fantastic resource to us all.

Excellent explanations and presentation. Thank you. All points are vital food for thought. What I have learned from this video: 1. Ensure that you’ve got a turbo charged engine if you’re going into a mountainous environment so as to maintain aircraft performance characteristics. 2. Climb to a safe altitude where are you clearing all of the ridge lines en route before actually heading outwards following any valleys or canyons - play it safe. Always. 3. If however you get caught in a bad situation in the canyon stick to one side and ensure that you’ve got enough room to turn around and do a 180 if necessary. 4. Constantly Look at how fast the valley floor is rising if you haven’t got enough altitude or cannot get high enough to clear the ridge lines. 5. Be aware of unstable air when in a mountain environment - especially downdraughts. 6. Learn How the aircraft handles at different heights through practice flights before going into mountainous situations.

Terrain climbs always faster as an GA airplane can climb. We in Switzerland 🇨🇭 learn, that you have to cross the Mountain with minimum 1000ft above the ridges and than in a slid decent attitude, with a 45 degree heading towards the ridges, to be always prepared to do a turn back in The Valley. High DA makes this not easer …. Thanks for the video… Rest In Peace buddy’s 👏🏻

This info will save lives.

About 30 years ago I departed RWY 33 KASE eastbound via Independence Pass in my 200 HP Turbo Arrow with reasonable safety margins. The following factors were in my favor. 1. I was familiar with the area, and my aircraft. 2. Turbocharged engine and oxygen on board. 3. Lightly loaded. 4. Good daytime VFR. 5. Reasonable density altitude. 6. Wind from the west. 7. Alone, no distractions, rested, and no "get-there-itis". 8. Flew down valley (to the NW) away from Aspen and Independence Pass to gain altitude before turning 180° toward IP. Coordinated with Aspen tower. No inbound traffic. 9. Flew the NE side of the valley toward IP for lift and plenty of room to turn 180° if necessary. About 25 years ago I was landing RWY 15 KASE in the same aircraft. I executed a go-around over the field and circled Aspen (with very little vertical and horizontal clearance) for landing RWY 33. Note: departures from RWY 15 are not permitted w/o special written permission due to terrain (2% upslope toward a box canyon). The following factors contributed to my decision to go-around, or were not in my favor for gaining altitude during the go-around. 1. Strong gusty wind from the west. 2. Wind shear on short final and turbulence over the runway. 3. Substantial crosswind and tailwind components. 4. High density altitude. I had a reasonable amount of mountain training and mountain flying prior to flying into and out of Aspen, but wish I could also have had the high-quality simulator time that's available today. Even playing around with Google Earth could help. Going missed approach past the MAP and decisions whether to force a landing or to execute a go-around with limited or unknown options happen a lot quicker than getting boxed in tight on the way to Independence Pass.

I earned my PPL in the thick air of Southern California where the biggest challenges were busy airspace and a lot of radio work. I moved to the Colorado Rocky Mountains about 7 years ago, trading the challenges of airspace for the challenges of density altitude and plenty of granite around to thwart the best laid plans. This video does a great job of explaining and visually demonstrating the challenges that these pilots faced based on the decisions they made and conditions at the time of their flight. The tragedy of this flight offers an opportunity for the rest of us to learn from their mistakes. While the Aspen area is certainly a beautiful area, there are nearby airports that would likely have made this flight a success. Grand Junction (GJT) airport is along this route and would have been a good early stop with alternates at Delta and Montrose to the south. While not as beautiful as Aspen, it does offer stunning views of Mt. Garfield and Grand Mesa. The elevation here is much lower than Aspen with plenty of room to climb out. Radio coverage can be a bit spotty when climbing out to the east. The next good option along this route is Garfield County Rifle Airport (RIL) which is often used as an alternate for Aspen and 2300 ft. lower. Finally, Eagle County Regional airport (EGE) is 1300 ft. lower with a 9000 ft. runway and more forgiving terrain during a VFR climb out. The east-southeast departure that they took is challenging. The controller spoke @3:22 of going "down valley" (to the northwest) before making the turn east. This provides more options for climbing out VFR from Aspen with lowering elevation during climb and options in the event of a problem. Hopefully we can all learn from this incident. Thank you to the AOPA Air Safety Institute for making this video available.

All my flight training has come out of Wyoming, I couldn’t be more grateful for the knowledge and experience I’ve attained in flying with high terrain and strong winds. May these pilots rest easy and I wish the best for their families.

That's utter madness 😳 what were they thinking??? The "Unable to make 16000" was the key indicator of an unmanageable threat, which should have been thought about and planned for before they left the crew room, not after they had received their IFR clearance.... Just absolute madness. Plenty to learn from this. Excellent video and once again excellent commentary.

Guys, your videos are fantastic, but please upload your content more often , this is the first video you made in 7 months. That's a long wait for us who want to learn more. Thanks.

I'm so glad people are using these flight simulators for reconstructions it really helps follow what happened.

The pilot, David, was an incredible man and very experienced pilot who I knew personally. He had previously flown in Aspen hundreds of times and owned his own aviation company on the east coast. This event was shocking and tragic for the people who knew and loved him, and although this tragic miscalculation cost him his life and that of his friend, I am very thankful that others can learn from his mistake and hopefully not repeat it. Rest in Peace, David.

Can't get enough of these videos. Thank you!

Not a pilot, but I've never considered any of this information before. I can definitely see how a simple error can cause a catastrophic event. It's so easy to miscalculate.

Took off from Flagstaff recently--basically last August. I have a 1969 Bo with a 470k (fun fact: the 1969 E33 Bonanza is the only year "Bonanza" is stamped on the side for a straight tail 33-renamed Debonair the next year). It struggled. And that plane has a strong engine that climbs well at altitude. But that day, with DA around 10k feet, you could really feel it. I took off with tanks half full (or half empty for you pessimists, lol) and flew it to Lake Havasu to re-fuel. You really can't mess with DA and high altitude flying around terrain can be a big deal. I've flown my sons to hockey tournaments all over the states in that plane, but I steer clear of Colorado with that plane. Our next plane is going to be a pressurized turbo twin, so we'll just use that one.

In my humble opinion as a low time pilot, the key to longevity in flying is humility. R.I.P. fellows deceased pilots. Your death was not in vain.

I can't remember where exactly, but I always wanted to fly Route 66, so my family and I flew vfr on a 152 from Chicago Midway to Santa Barbara Reginal on a vacation. Never had flown in the west before. The entire trip was beautiful until we hit west New Mexico I believe. There was four souls on board plus luggage so I could never fill the tanks completely but I would stretch it too about 97% MTOW. My first mountain range was about 10,000 agl with low vis at sunset, I turned around and called it a night.

Accident case study finally returns!

As always thank you for these sad learning opportunities that are so thoroughly prepared and professionally presented!

Thank you for another case study video. There is so much we can all learn from these types of videos. As an Aspen pilot myself, this one really hits home. I wish you could make more of these videos! Keep it up! Thanks

Thank you for another wonderfully produced case study. As a flat lander, I’m terrified of mountain flying simply because I’m uneducated about it. I know it can be done safely, and plan on taking mountain flying courses prior to trying it for myself. Hopefully others will learn so this tragedy is not repeated.

Can I just say, the music adds so much to this. The sense of dread and regret, sorrow and anguish from those few short measures is incredible.

I watched a Cessna fly up the East Maroon Creek valley while eating my lunch on the top of Pyramid Peak. For those unfamiliar with the terrain near Aspen, this is the valley just to the east of Pyramid Peak. It was surreal looking down about 3,000 feet at an airplane struggling to get up the valley. He went straight up the gut, no chance of turning around. We sat and watched him for the 3 or 4 minutes it took for him to make it to East Maroon Pass (11,800 - ish, I think) - and it was terrifying to watch. He couldn't have been more than 50 feet above the ground when he cleared the pass. Either an extremely experience pilot, or an extremely lucky one. I'm guessing it was the latter.

These videos are just SO brilliantly put together. Please keep them coming.

Please Keep doing these videos ASI. I can't recommend them enough for my students.

I was eager for a new delivery! I find these so well produced videos the most useful source of knowledge and learning on RU-vid for us GA pilots, thanks for this one and hope to watch a lot more in short to add to my AOPA video collection. Fly safe and good winds to all. 73 from Argentina.

It strikes me that it makes sense to fly the intended route in a sim program first before trying it for real and identifying these issues like the density altitude problems ahead of time. RIP to those two pilots.

Thank you for providing this video.

We fly c206. Takes us roughly 20-25 minutes to climb to 9500' takes us additional 15-20 minutes for another 1500' to 11000'. I'm surprised how much power/climb loss you can have once you hit a certain altitude. Climb is fine (for the plane), but at 9000' it just stops climbing, till you adjust mixture and then only gets about 100 fpm of climb if we're lucky. Moral of the story! You might think your climb is good, until suddenly it's not and now you can't turn. Altitude changes handling of your plane in a big way.

A very well done video on the hazards of mountain flying. Best I’ve seen for its straight-forward info. Learn it..and live

Another great video! As a student pilot I totally appreciate the help and support you always give me. I've completed my FAA Wings Safety program already. But, always come back to review the new videos all the time. It's about always learning and staying current and proficient when flying.

A great lesson here, they didn't have a plan, didn't comprehend what they were up against, they tried to wing it. Those rocks are unforgiving, know your plane's performance, and have a plan that can work, flying up the middle of a valley is a bad idea from a safety point of view. We can learn a few things here, the down drafts were gonna be a factor with the wind out of the east.

You don't have to go thru this route.. They could have gone thru ABQ... Much lower terrain... Looks like they wanted to visit Aspen. If so they should have stayed overnight and left at dawn.

Yet again an excellent learning 'tool' from AOPA. Thank you for sharing this sobering lesson.

Never stop making these accident case study videos. They are absolutely the best! Learn so much from everything presented in them. Well done!

Get there-Itis. I knew an Alaskan light plane pilot who told me about this years ago. They get impatient and don't do enough circles to gain altitude. Hit that valley and the downdraft pushes you in. He called it "Riding it in". No options. You just watch as the ground comes up.

Amazing work, guys! Thank you for your service to general aviation. Great use of MS Flight Simulator (I assume?) for this purpose!

Horrible tragedy, and I really appreciate this channel for its professional case studies that help keep us safe and mindful

Thank you for creating these videos. They are life savers. God bless the two pilots

I was hiking once in 2003 up the valley toward Schofield pass just out of Marble. We found parts of a plane off trail (air intake), perhaps a similar situation occurred. What happened is still a mystery.

If you're going to fly in the mountains a day getting a mountain flying checkout could save your life. RIP in peace the pilot, his friend, and their family and friends

Very good vid to learn from. Thank you, and may the pilots rest in peace

Great vid ASI. I'm learning alot from these case studies. Condolences to the pilots' families.

While density altitude was the ultimate killer in this case, what started them down that path was improper flight planning to begin with and poor risk management of the situation they were getting into. They then further exacerbated this when, realizing that they could not climb and maintain the altitude cleared by ATC on the SID, they then decided to wing it VFR. That’s pretty classic impulsivity at work. To a certain extent you may not be able to blame them. They were ATP rated pilots with a lot of experience and jets. Well that may sound even more damning of their decisions, keep in mind that it creates inaccurate and vulnerable perceptions about how airplanes perform and may not allow them to perceive just how poor the climb and maneuvering performance of a light Part 23 normally aspirated airplane like a Bonanza will fly under those conditions. I would also have to know about their competency in mountain flying as that’s another key factor here. As you pointed out, the combination of high density altitude plus downdrafts and sinkers from wind flowing over the mountains ultimately brought about the inability of the aircraft to climb over terrain. As a CFI I recommend to my students who finish up a PPL not to attempt mountain flying until they take a course on it from a competent instructor. And even then, seek out the advice from an experienced CFI if they are flying in an unfamiliar mountainous region as this person can be a wealth of information as well as alert them to a lot of hazards in their region of flight. The instant these pilots realized the density altitude would not permit them to depart IFR using the SID should have raised immediate red flags. Being aware of this, you need to really carefully evaluate your options at that point as opposed to simply rushing into the decision to depart VFR and make your choice of course ad hoc while enroute. Combined with the fact that it’s starting to get late in the evening, the wisest route would’ve been simply to cancel their intentions to depart, and taxi back to the ramp. $50 worth of Uber rides and a $150 hotel room in Aspen for the night while you wait for better flying conditions and planning a new flight beats the hell out of dying in an airplane crash. Just another sad story about people who poorly evaluated the risks of what they were doing and got in over their heads.

Again a very worthwhile video, but what a costly lesson to learn.

Had a CFIT under similar conditions in flight sim trying to cross country a Bonanza to California. This was a lesson I learned before starting on my PPL, and it has definitely stuck with me.

The best content on youtube. You guys are not only spreading vital knowledge & awareness but you are also saving lives. Thanks for making these videos.

And hugging the sunny slope of the pass would probably have given them additional critical lift...

Every single time I watch one of these excellently produced post accident reports... A: I reaffirm something I knew B: I learn something critical that I did not know. FFS... I don't even fly and have zero aspiration to become a pilot . They are THAT good.

Thanks for the very pragmatic description of the effects of density altitude. You brought the point home better than a textbook.... and so did those 2 pilots, who went beyond their experience, and expertise. My heart fell, at their tragic crash.

The animation combined with narration enabled me to understand esoteric concepts

Love that you use MSFS now.

As a mountain flying instructor in Colorado, I can only shake my head at the fatal decisions pilots continue to make in the mountains.

In 2003 a French CASA 235 military transport twin turboprop crashed in a valley of the Pyrenees in a raising valley leading to a pass, flying intentionnally low in the terrain. They crashed 200m or 650ft from the pass, trapped in a terrain raising faster than the aircraft could climb. That really relates to the narration.

Thanks again for another expertly crafted, compelling video on 'pilot challenges'.