National Transportation Safety Board Printed on : 1/14/2011 6:27:39 PM

Washington, DC 20594

Brief of Accident

Adopted 05/03/2006

DEN05MA029
File No. 19929 11/28/2004 Montrose, CO Aircraft Reg No. N873G Time (Local): 09:55 MST

Make/Model: Canadair / CL-600-2A12 Fatal Serious Minor/None

Engine Make/Model: General Electric / CF34-3A2 Crew 2 1 0
Aircraft Damage: Destroyed Pass 1 2 0
Number of Engines: 2
Operating Certificate(s): None
Name of Carrier: Air Castle Corporation
Type of Flight Operation: Non-scheduled; Domestic; Passenger Only
Reg. Flight Conducted Under: Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Last Depart. Point: Montrose, CO Condition of Light: Day

Destination: South Bend, IN Weather Info Src: Weather Observation Facility
Airport Proximity: Off Airport/Airstrip Basic Weather: Instrument Conditions
Lowest Ceiling: 900 Ft. AGL, Overcast
Visibility: 1.25 SM
Wind Dir/Speed: Calm
Temperature (°C): -1
Precip/Obscuration:

Pilot-in-Command Age: 50 Flight Time (Hours)

Certificate(s)/Rating(s) Total All Aircraft: 12396

Airline Transport; Commercial; Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land; Helicopter Last 90 Days: 165
Total Make/Model: 913
Instrument Ratings Total Instrument Time: 2034
Airplane

On November 28, 2004, about 0958 mountain standard time, a Canadair, Ltd., CL-600-2A12, N873G, registered to Hop-a-Jet, Inc., and
operated by Air Castle Corporation dba Global Aviation as Glo-Air flight 73, collided with the ground during takeoff at Montrose Regional
Airport (MTJ), Montrose, Colorado. The on-demand charter flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Part 135 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and snow was falling. Of the
six occupants on board, the captain, the flight attendant, and one passenger were killed, and the first officer and two passengers were
seriously injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was en route to South Bend Regional Airport
(SBN), South Bend, Indiana.

The complete report of this accident investigation was adopted by the Safety Board on May 2, 2006, and is available on :
http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2006/AAB0603.pdf
 Brief of Accident (Continued)

DEN05MA029
File No. 19929 11/28/2004 Montrose, CO Aircraft Reg No. N873G Time (Local): 09:55 MST

Occurrence #1: ON GROUND/WATER ENCOUNTER WITH WEATHER

Phase of Operation: TAKEOFF

Findings
1. (F) WEATHER CONDITION - ICING CONDITIONS
2. (C) AIRFRAME - ICE
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Occurrence #2: LOSS OF CONTROL - IN FLIGHT

Phase of Operation: TAKEOFF - INITIAL CLIMB

Findings
3. AIRCRAFT CONTROL - NOT MAINTAINED - FLIGHTCREW
4. (F) LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE - FLIGHTCREW
5. (C) STALL/MUSH - ENCOUNTERED - FLIGHTCREW
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Occurrence #3: IN FLIGHT COLLISION WITH TERRAIN/WATER

Phase of Operation: DESCENT - UNCONTROLLED

Findings
6. TERRAIN CONDITION - GROUND

Findings Legend: (C) = Cause, (F) = Factor

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows.
the flight crew's failure to ensure that the airplane’s wings were free of ice or snow contamination that accumulated while the airplane
was on the ground, which resulted in an attempted takeoff with upper wing contamination that induced the subsequent stall and collision
with the ground. A factor contributing to the accident was the pilots’ lack of experience flying during winter weather conditions.