: Friday March 30 7:54 AM ET
: Private Plane Crash Near Aspen, Colorado, Kills 18

Friday April 6 6:03 PM ET
Data Refocuses Attention on Gulfstream Crew

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An initial review of cockpit voice data showed no apparent evidence of mechanical problems aboard a Gulfstream III jet that crashed last week in Colorado killing all 18 people aboard, federal safety investigators said on Friday.

Preliminary information made available by the National Transportation Safety Board refocused attention on issues like weather conditions and actions of the crew aboard the chartered luxury jet that struck a hill and burst into flames while trying to land in Aspen.

The plane crashed 500 feet short of the runway at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport. It was snowing at the time of the crash.

Safety board investigators reviewed the cockpit voice recorder, which they said contained good audio quality and provided the final 31 minutes and 42 seconds of the charter jet's flight from Los Angeles.

The plane did not have a flight data recorder.

A partial summary of voice recorder data showed routine air traffic communication as the jet made its way from Denver's high-altitude control center toward Aspen.

After being switched to tower controllers at Aspen, the crew asked if the runway lights were on. The tower responded that they were operating ``on high.''

The tower then asked if the crew had the runway in sight. ''The crew responded affirmatively,'' the NTSB said.

The data showed that airport weather information was recorded on one of the pilot's audio channels, but exact details of that report were not disclosed.

NTSB data also showed the crew was alerted to a dangerous rate of descent 12 seconds before the crash.

Recorder information did not appear to contain evidence of any aircraft malfunction, the safety board said.

The data released by the NTSB did not answer questions about how well the pilots knew the airport.

Nor did it shed any light on the type of night landing approach used by the Gulfstream crew that had been prohibited at that airport by the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA said it was investigating why the Aspen control tower apparently failed to receive that order, called a Notice to Airmen, which was widely disseminated two days before the crash.

The single-runway airport is at 7,815 feet and can be hazardous even in clear weather because it is surrounded by mountains.

-----