Two confirmed dead in chartered plane crash near Montrose Regional Airport

Mike Robuck

News Editor

MONTROSE - Two people were confirmed dead after a chartered coperate jet crashed on take off from Montrose Regional Airport around 10:15 a.m. this morning.

According to Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer out of Seattle, the CL-60 Challenger is owned and operated by Global Aviation, a Los Angeles-based charter service. The plane, with six passengers onboard, was scheduled to land in South Bend, Ind. when it crashed through the fence at the end of the small runway at the airport.

Montrose Police Cmdr. Tom Chinn said there were two fatalities from the plane wreck with three transported to Montrose Memorial Hospital and one unaccounted for. Chinn said late Sunday afternoon that one of the passengers was transported to a Denver hospital while the other two went to a Grand Junction hospital. Kenitzer said two of the passengers that were transferred to Montrose Memorial Hospital had life threatening injuries.

Doug Percival an employee of Pro Tow, which is located near the end of the airport, witnessed the accident.

"I was just getting back to the shop," Percival said. "I was in the office when I heard something that sounded like a sonic boom. I looked out the window to see what it was and I saw a big ball of flames coming off the runway there."

Percival said the plane went through a fence at the end of the runway, and he didn't think the plane left the ground prior to the explosion.

"When I heard it and looked out the window the plane was on ground level," he said. "Then there was the big explosion and the fire and you could see the tail (of the plane) coming out of the smoke and fire. I went running back and unlocked the gate. I sprinted back there and by the time I got halfway there I heard a kid screaming for help saying his brother was still on the plane.

"I hopped a couple of fences and went through the one the plane went through. It was kind of bad, really. When I came through the smoke I saw all the people who were ejected from the plane."

Percival said one of the passengers was still breathing when he got there.

"One of them was still breathing but it didn't last very long," he said. "His leg was busted up and with bones sticking out from his legs and collar. I went up and felt for a pulse and it seemed like he had one. Then he took on one last deep breath and that was it."

"I remember the kid was still yelling. He came and grabbed me from the side and said 'Please, my brother is still in the plane. He was in the fourth row.' When I asked him where he was in the plane he said he was in the back row. There was him and another guy in the back row in they very last two seats and they were still alive. Both of them didn't have shoes. I don't know if it knocked them out of their shoes, but neither of them had shoes on."

According to the Associated Press, NBC Sports Chairman and President Dick Ebersol survived the plane crash, NBC said in a statement through its Denver affiliate KUSA-TV. It was also reported that Ebersol's wife, actress Susan St. James was not on the plane.

The Montrose Police Department was securing the crash area, which Chinn estimated was 200 to 300 yards long, until investigators from the FAA and the National Safety Transportation Board arrived. Kenitzger said the investigators were expected to be on the scene some time today. Chinn said the names of the deceased weren't available until next of kin had been notified. The condition and names of the surviving passengers were also unavailable.

Scott Brownlee, the Montrose Regional Airport's manager, said the CL-60 Challenger was "a larger end corporate aircraft" The airport's emergency response team arrived on site to put out the remains of the fire. The Montrose Fire Protection District also responded to the accident, while members of the Montrose County Sheriff's Office and Sheriff's Posse were involved in the search for the missing passenger.

"You hate to have an accident of this type anytime but having it on a holiday weekend makes it even harder," Brownlee said.

While it was snowing in Montrose this morning, Brownlee and Chinn were unable to say if snow was a factor.

Contact Mike Robuck via e-mail at miker@montrosepress.com.