What happened
On the morning of the accident, an aircraft departed from Grand Junction Airport at 10:37 local time. The flight was a positioning maneuver intended for Tacoma, following the completion of scheduled maintenance work. During this flight, the crew was performing a specific stall test, which was being conducted after the wing leading edges and de-ice panels had been removed, inspected, and reinstalled.
After a standard departure, the aircraft began a climbing right turn toward the northeast. The plane reached an altitude of approximately 20,000 feet mean sea level before the flight profile changed abruptly. In the final minute of the flight, the aircraft entered a sudden vertical descent. This motion was characteristic of a flat spin, and the crew was unable to regain control of the aircraft.
The plane impacted the ground in an unpopulated region of Westwater, located in eastern Utah near the Colorado border. The impact was followed by a significant post-crash fire that largely destroyed the airframe. Due to the high level of fragmentation caused by the crash and the subsequent fire, investigators were unable to perform a comprehensive examination of the engines and the structural components of the airframe. Both pilots were killed in the accident.
Findings
- The aircraft was undergoing a stall test following recent maintenance on the de-ice panels and wing leading edges.
- The descent was consistent with a flat spin from which recovery was not achieved.