Ten Killed in Small Plane Crash Near Denver

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Saturday January 27 11:33 PM ET Ten Killed in Small Plane Crash Near Denver

DENVER (Reuters) - A twin engine turbo prop airplane crashed on Saturday shortly after takeoff from an airport near Denver, killing all 10 people on board, officials said.

``There are no survivors,'' Adams County Sgt Craig Coleman said, adding that debris from the accident was spread over a wide area.

Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites) spokesman Jerry Snyder said the crash occurred about 15 miles southeast of Denver International Airport.

He said the King Air 200 was carrying 10 people from Jefferson County Airport to Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Snyder said investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board would be sent to investigate the cause of the accident. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010127/ts/crash_colorado_dc_2.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), January 27, 2001

Answers

Headline: Transponder investigated in plane crash that killed Oklahoma State basketball staff

Source: Associated Press, 30 Jan 2001

STRASBURG, Colo. - Aviation investigators are checking whether a faulty transponder played a role in Saturday's fatal crash of a plane carrying reserve members of the Oklahoma State University men's basketball team.

John Hammerschmidt, head of the National Transportation Safety Board investigation team, said Monday that traffic controllers didn't get altitude data for the Beech King Air 200's last moments of flight, indicating the transponder may not have been working.

That could point to problems with the plane's electrical system, NTSB investigator Robert Benzon said.

"Maybe the transponder broke or the electrical system that powered the transponder was not functioning properly," Benzon said.

Aviation investigators said they have found no evidence that engine failure caused the plane to crash shortly after taking off from Jefferson County Airport on Saturday, killing all 10 aboard.

They also said small pieces of the plane had fallen to the ground before the crash, but after two days of scouring the site the cause remained unknown.

There were two Oklahoma State basketball players and six staffers on the plane when it crashed and burst into flames in a field 40 miles east of Denver. The pilot and co-pilot were also killed.

Investigators have also considered whether bad weather caused the crash - the plane took off in light snow and with a visibility of one mile, while an icing advisory warned of a light to moderate threat.

The plane was not de-iced before taking off but there wouldn't have been much reason to do so because the plane went from a warm hangar straight to the runway and took off quickly, Benzon said.

Air traffic controllers told the NTSB they saw no sign of ice or anything out of the ordinary as the plane passed before them.

Witnesses said the plane climbed and banked hard to the right before it crashed. They told investigators the propeller plane's engines revved and eased several times before the aircraft went down.

-- Andre Weltman (aweltman@state.pa.us), January 30, 2001.


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