New Video Shows Fatal Aspen Plane Crash
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ABC News(ASPEN, Colo.) — Newly released video may provide clues about what caused a private plane to crash off a runway in Aspen, Colo., earlier this month, leaving one person dead and two others injured.
The black-and-white video, captured by five infrared cameras, shows the plane exploding in flames after it landed off the side of the runway and flipped over.
The video, released Tuesday by the Aspen/Pitkin County Airport, shows the plane’s second attempt at landing on Jan. 5, after the first attempt was halted by wind gusts as high as 30 miles per hour.
According to transcripts from the cockpit voice recorder, there was no mayday issued by the pilots though there was concern over the wind gusts.
“It appears the airplane was going way too fast down the runway and, for some reason, hit the runway very hard causing the aircraft to pitch up and perhaps stall so that there’s no longer any lift coming over the wing,” said ABC News’ aviation consultant Stephen Ganyard.
“The airplane literally falls out of the sky,” Ganyard said.
The Canadair CL-600, a mid-sized private jet, originated from Mexico and stopped in Tucson, Ariz., before arriving in Aspen.
Co-pilot Sergio Carranza Brabata, 54, of Mexico, was killed in the crash, according to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s office.
The other two men on board were Miguel Henriquez and Moises Carranza — the pilot and another co-pilot flying as a passenger. They were hospitalized in critical and serious condition, respectively, after the crash.
The National Transportation Safety Board is still investigating the crash and has not said if weather, mechanical problems or pilot error played a role in the crash.
Witnesses, including singer LeAnn Rimes Cibrian and comedian Kevin Nealon, reported on Twitter that they saw the plane crash and wrote that smoke was coming from the site.
Around 2:30 p.m. ET, Nealon wrote, “Horrible plane crash here at Aspen airport. Exploded into flames as it was landing. I think it was a private jet.”
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