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A Hawker 900XP (N900VA) crashed near the Colorado-Utah border on Wednesday, killing the two people on board.
The plane was a chartered aircraft owned by Houston-based VICI Aviation and headed to Tacoma, Washington from the Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) in Colorado. The plane was destroyed when it impacted terrain just 10 minutes after taking off. The Grand County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook that it received a report of a downed aircraft in a remote area near the Colorado border. Deputies and emergency personnel raced to the scene to search for survivors. The Sheriff's Office confirmed the pilot and second command were on board but the identities have not been released.
ADS-B data records the Hawker's speed slowing down once it reached 20,000 ft, dropping from over 300 kt at 16,100 ft to 276 kts when it first reached 20,000 ft. The data shows the plane between 19,975-20,000 ft over the next minute, the speed gradually dropping down to just over 160 kts. The speed continued to drop, reaching the 160-range before the plane began to descend quickly with the speed. The last recorded altitude was 11,525 ft at 76 kts and descending roughly 13,184 ft per minute.
According to KKCO News Utah, the pilot and copilot have not been found. The Grand County Sheriff's Office said an investigation and the next of kin notifications will take precedence over releasing the names of involved parties. The NTSB tweeted on Wednesday it was investigating.