18 die as showbiz special jet crashes
Eighteen people have been killed after a chartered executive jet crashed into a hillside in a US ski resort.
The Gulf stream III fell apart as it dived across a culvert and struck a hill just short of the runway in Aspen, Colorado.
The California-based charter company specializes in flying showbiz clients.
Wreckage and bodies were strewn across the crash site. Two dead passengers were still strapped to their seats and one was sprawled on a hillside.
There were no distress calls before the crash, said Marie Munday, a spokeswoman for the County Sheriff's Office. All 18 bodies were recovered, she said. The victims were not immediately identified.
The twin-engined jet left Burbank, California, and stopped in Los Angeles before departing for Aspen. Fifteen passengers and three crew were on board, said Allen Kenitzer, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman in Seattle.
Marc Foulkrod, president of Avjet Corporation in Burbank, California, which manages the jet for its owner, said Avjet caters for corporate clients and people in the entertainment industry but declined to say who was on the flight.
The National Weather Service reported light snow in the area at the time of the crash. Visibility went from 10 miles to less than two miles in about 20 minutes just before the crash, forecasters said.
Firefighters said there was a small fire when they arrived. Debris, including pieces of seats, insulation and the fuselage, was scattered for at least 300 feet.
