Carrier Lost Two Falcon 20s, Same Day, Suffered 3
Fatalities
St. Louis police were watching two Grand Aire
pilots Tuesday evening about 6:30, pending an FBI investigation
into their backgrounds and their flight. Their 'crime' was that
they sent their Falcon 20 cargo jet to Davey Jones' locker, at the
bottom of the Mississippi River, after having had bad weather
problems that kept them out of Lambert Field. The flight had
originated at Del Rio (TX). Cargo was not disclosed. They were
picked up from the floating twinjet about a quarter hour after the
water landing, one man inside, the other atop the plane, waving to
Fire Department rescuers.
Saleem Iqbal, 34, and Mohammed Saleh, 44 were identified by the
FBI as the two pilots, although we couldn't find out which of the
gentlemen was in stable condition, and which was critical. The FBI
considers the McKinley Bridge a likely terrorist target, and since
the unfortunate pilots crashed near there, well... you just can't
be too safe, these days -- even if the weather is so bad they
couldn't reach the airport, much less a bridge.
St Louis Mayor Francis Slay, without alluding to
the possible national origins of the pilots, said merely, "Because
the country is on an orange alert and because Mississippi River
bridges have been listed as possible terrorism targets, we are
handling this matter with extreme caution." Security at the bridges
has, according to a local report, been beefed up since the bad
weather on Tuesday.
Separately, in Toledo...
About five hours earlier, another Falcon 20, also operated by
Grand Aire, went down into a nature preserve on final approach near
Toledo Express Airport in Ohio. It had taken off from Traverse City
(MI); the cargo is again unspecified.
** Report created 4/9/2003 Record
3 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 179GA
Make/Model: FA20 Description: FALCON
20, MYSTÈRE 20 (T-11, T
Date: 04/08/2003 Time: 2351
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Serious Mid Air: N
Missing: N
Damage: Substantial
LOCATION
City: ST. LOUIS State:
MO Country: US
DESCRIPTION
GRAND AIR EXPRESS, GAX179, DASSAULT FA20 ACFT, ON SECOND
ATTEMPT TO LAND, REPORTED AND EMERGENCY, LOST BOTH ENGINES AND
CRASHED INTO THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, TWO PILOTS WERE RESCUED FROM
THE RIVER, ST. LOUIS, MO
INJURY DATA Total Fatal:
0
# Crew: 2 Fat:
0 Ser:
2 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: SPECI KSTL 082337Z 34010KT 7SM -RA OVC010 02/01 A3029 RMK
CIG 007V013
OTHER DATA
Activity: Business Phase:
Landing Operation: Air Taxi (On
Demand)
Departed: DEL RIO,
TX
Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: ST. LOUIS,
MO
Flt Plan: IFR
Wx Briefing: N
Last Radio Cont: 2 MI N OF GATEWAY ARCH, ST. LOUIS
Last Clearance: LOW ALTITUDE ALERT, MAINTAIN 2100 UNTIL
INTERCEPTING GLIDESLOP
FAA FSDO: ST. LOUIS, MO
(CE03)
Entry date: 04/09/2003
--
** Report created 4/9/2003 Record
4 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 183GA
Make/Model: FA20 Description: FALCON
20, MYSTÈRE 20 (T-11, T
Date: 04/08/2003 Time: 1935
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
Fatal Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: TOLEDO State:
OH Country: US
DESCRIPTION
GRAND AIR INC, FA20 ACFT, ON APPROACH TO ILS RUNWAY 7,
DROPPED OFF RADAR ON FINAL, CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, 3
PERSONS ON BOARD SUFFERED FATAL INJURIES, ACFT WAS DESTROYED, 2 W
TOLEDO, OH
INJURY DATA Total Fatal:
3
# Crew: 2 Fat:
2 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Pass: 1 Fat:
1 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: TOL METAR 1752Z 03009KT 1SM BR 0VC003 00/M01 Z3025 RMK SFC
VIS 13/4
OTHER DATA
Activity: Training Phase:
Approach Operation: General
Aviation
Departed: TRAVERSE CITY,
MI Dep
Date: 04/08/2003 Dep. Time: 1935
Destination: TOLEDO,
OH
Flt Plan: IFR
Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: UNK
Last Clearance: CONTACT TOLEDO TOWER
FAA FSDO: CLEVELAND, OH
(GL25)
Entry date: 04/09/2003
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