Aspen Arrival

When reading about the Aspen Arrival accident, it's so easy to find multiple ways that the accident could have been prevented.  It all starts with knowing how to cope with pressure and setting your own limits as PIC of an aircraft.  I have had to make many go/no-go decisions during my training and sometimes it isn't so easy.

I believe the first mistake was simply allowing the customers to override their decision just because they paid a lot of money for this trip.  It was their fault for being late, and leaving 41 minutes later than the scheduled departure put them very close to the night curfew.  As we saw, their flight briefing mentioned occasional IFR, which in Aspen is a cause for concern, ESPECIALLY at night.  The FSS briefer also noted that the circle-to-land procedures for the only instrument approach into Aspen was no longer permitted at night. As we learned later in the article, that information was not passed along correctly to everyone involved (i.e. controller at Aspen) and the Gulfstream was cleared for that approach when it never should have been.

There were many other factors that should have been different in this situation.  Why did they let someone ride in the jumpseat?  I have a feeling that that was somewhat of a distraction during the approach. Why did they let the passengers override their decision to divert to the alternate?  Their alternate destination had 10 miles visibility and skies clear below 12,000 at the time of the crash.  Why did they not remember that the circling approach was not authorized?  They were told this during the briefing and should not have accepted the approach from the controller, especially after 2 preceding aircraft had gone missed.  That right there is a live PIREP.  They couldn't do it, so why did this crew believe that they could?  All of these were things that contributed to the accident and could have easily been avoided.

Of course, I have a feeling that it would be pretty difficult for me if I was in this situation.  I worked so hard to get this job and to get where I am in my career... It would be really hard for me to make this decision that could get me in big trouble, or even fired.  However, I think that I'd much rather be alive and in trouble instead of dead because of poor decision-making.  I have a feeling that if the passengers knew the danger of what they were "forcing" the pilots to do, they would not have been so adamant to get to their fancy dinner.

-TB