| Crash location | 39.525834°N, 107.728056°W |
| Nearest city | Rifle, CO
39.534702°N, 107.783120°W 3.0 miles away |
| Tail number | N2691W |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 16 Apr 2015 |
| Aircraft type | Fairchild SA227 Ac |
| Additional details: | None |
On April 16, 2015, about 2245 mountain daylight time, a Fairchild SA227-AC, multi-engine airplane, N2691W, operating as Key Lime flight 168, was substantially damaged after an uncontained engine failure during climb at Rifle, Colorado. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was registered to CBG LLC; Wilsonville, Oregon; and was operated by Key Lime Air Corporation; Englewood, Colorado. Dark night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 scheduled cargo flight. The airplane departed from Garfield County Regional Airport (RIL), Rifle, Colorado, at 2237 and was destined for Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, Colorado
The pilot reported that during climb, when still well below the tops of nearby mountains, he heard a "bang" followed by a complete loss of power and engine fire indications from the right engine. After completing appropriate checklist items the pilot declared an emergency and diverted to Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT), Grand Junction, Colorado, for an instrument approach and an otherwise uneventful landing at 2311. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the second stage turbine rotor from the right engine had separated. One portion of the rotor exited through the left side of the engine and nacelle structure, penetrated the right side of the fuselage, and came to rest inside the fuselage wall. Other portions of the separated rotor exited through the right side of the engine. There was thermal damage to the engine and the inside of the nacelle structure, but no evidence of a sustained fire in that area.
At 2253 the Automated Surface Observation System at RIL reported wind from 130 degrees at 4 knots, visibility 10 miles in light rain, ceiling overcast at 2,000 feet above ground level (agl), temperature 3 degrees C, dew point 2 degrees C, altimeter 30.04 inches of mercury. Data from the United States Naval Observatory indicated that moonset occurred at 1740 and sunset occurred at 1950.