Beech 200 accident near Strasburg, Colorado, January 27, 2001
On January 27, 2001, a Beech 200, registered N81PF, was destroyed in an accident near Strasburg, Colorado. It was a business flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 10 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot’s spatial disorientation resulting from his failure to maintain positive manual control of the airplane with the available flight instrumentation. Contributing to the cause of the accident was the loss of a.c. electrical power during instrument meteorological conditions.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 27, 2001
- Place
- Strasburg, Colorado · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 10 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Beech 200 · all 200s on the register
- Registration
- N81PF · registry record · serial BB158
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. On January 27, 2001, about 1737 mountain standard time, a Raytheon (Beechcraft) Super King Air 200, N81PF, owned by North Bay Charter, LLC, and operated by Jet Express Services, crashed into rolling terrain near Strasburg, Colorado. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The flight departed about 1718 from Jefferson County Airport (BJC), Broomfield, Colorado, with two pilots and eight passengers aboard. The pilot who occupied the left seat in the cockpit was solely responsible for the flight. The pilot who occupied the right seat in the cockpit, referred to in this report as the "second pilot," was not a required flight crewmember. N81PF was one of three airplanes transporting members of the Oklahoma State University (OSU) basketball team and associated team personnel to Stillwater Regional Airport (SWO), Stillwater, Oklahoma, after a game at the University of Colorado at Boulder that afternoon. All 10 occupants aboard N81PF were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and a postcrash fire. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,116 hours in all; 50 in the last 90 days; 13 in the last 30 days; 3,650 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: January 28, 1999
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
Co-pilot
- Certificate: commercial pilot, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 18 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,737 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, June 28, 2000; 78.5 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 12,500 lb
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-41 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: BJC Broomfield CO
- Destination: SWO Stillwater OK
- Flight plan: IFR
Weather at the time
- Wind: at 3 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Temperature: 25°F (-4°C), dew point 23°F (-5°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:45 pm from BJC
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 8 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.