Accidents
NTSB Finds No Aircraft Anomalies in KSBS Accident
Autopilot was engaged when aircraft impacted Emerald Mountain below MDA
Steamboat Springs Airport notam
The FAA issued a notam six days after the February 13 crash of an Epic E1000 single-engine turboprop into the top of Emerald Mountain near Steamboat Springs, Colorado, revoking authorization to use the RNAV (GPS) Z 32 approach procedure.

On February 13, the pilot and three passengers in an Epic E1000 were killed when their turboprop single hit Emerald Mountain—at about 900 feet below the approach minimum descent altitude (MDA)—near Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The accident happened just after midnight local time while the pilot was flying the RNAV (GPS) Z 32 approach to Steamboat Springs Airport/Bob Adams Field (KSBS), according to the NTSB preliminary report. Six days after the accident, the FAA issued a notam prohibiting pilots from using that approach procedure.

Four minutes before the accident, the metar weather for KSBS was a broken ceiling of 1,600 feet and overcast at 2,400 feet, with 10-mile visibility. The airport elevation is 6,882 feet, so those cloud layers would have been at 8,482 and 9,282 feet msl.

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