CELESTE REID 1978 - 1980 STATION AGENT, STATION MANAGER MLS IN MEMORIAM Celeste Reid, a former Frontier employee, was killed in April in a plane crash involving an Air U.S. aircraft. Reid joined Frontier in September 1978 and served as station manager in Miles City, Montana, until Frontier suspended service to the city in June, 1980. She joined Air U.S. in January 1981 as a flight attendant, based in Sheridan, Wyoming. -Frontier News dated June, 1981 This is probably her: MARY REID Born 20 May 1959 Died Apr 1981 Age 21 Living at 59301 (Miles City, Custer, MT) SSN issued in Montana -SSDI (1/4/07) 17 Apr 1981 Loveland, Colorado Air US / Pvt. Hadley Page 137Jetstream I and a Cessna 206 N11360 / N4862F Fatalities 19/15 ACCIDENT DETAILS Date: April 17, 1981 Time: 16:01 Location: Loveland, Colorado Operator: Air US / Pvt. Flight #: 716 / - Route: Denver, CO - Gillette, WY AC Type: Hadley Page 137Jetstream I / Cessna 206 Registration: N11360 / N4862F cn / ln: 238 Aboard: 19 (passengers:15 crew:4) Fatalities: 15 (passengers:12 crew:3) Ground: 0 Summary: A midair collision occurred 2 nm east-southeast of Loveland, Colorado at 13,000 ft.. Two killed and 3 injured on the Cessna and 13 killed on the Jetstream. The failure of the Cessna pilot to establish communications with the Denver Center and his climbing into controlled airspace above 12,500 ft without an authorized transponder. Contributing factor was the fact that existing regulations did not prohibit parachute jumping in or immediately adjacent to federal airways. -http://www.planecrashinfo.com/1981/1981-19.htm (1/4/07) Air US Flight 716 departed Denver-Stapleton, CO at 15:46 for a flight to Gillette, WY. At 15:59 Flight 716 contacted Denver Center to request to maintain FL130, which was approved. In the same area a Cessna TU206 (N4862F, operated by Sky's West Parachute Center) was climbing in a racetrack pattern over Fort Collins/Loveland Municipal Airport to an altitude of FL155. The Cessna had departed this airport at 15:30 for the second parachute jump flight of the day. The Cessna was in a climbing left turn on a north-westerly heading when it was hit by the Air US Jetstream. The No. 1 propeller of the Jetstream cut through the aft fuselage section of the Cessna resulting in immediate loss of control to both aircraft. Two of the skydivers were killed inside the aircraft during the collision. The pilot and three parachutists fell free of the aircraft and parachuted to the ground. The remains of the Cessna descended out of control and crashed in an open field. The Jetstream impacted the ground in a nearly vertical pitch attitude in an open field about 4,000 feet northeast of the Cessna wreckage. PROBABLE CAUSE: "The failure of the Cessna pilot to establish communications with the Denver Center and his climbing into controlled airspace above 12,500 feet without an authorised deviation from the altitude encoding transponder (Mode-C) requirement, the practice of the Denver Center of routinely condoning Sky's West parachute jump operations above 12,500 feet without a Mode-C transponder and the failure of the pilots of both aircraft to "see and avoid" each other. Contributing to the accident was the fact that existing regulations do not prohibit parachute jumping in, or immediately adjacent to, Federal airways." -http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19810417-0&lang=en (1/4/07) Flight Attendant Ms. Celeste Reid, age 22, served as flight attendant on flight 716, although there was no FAA requirement for a flight attendant on this flight. Excerpt from NTSB report. -http://www.airdisaster.com/reports/ntsb/AAR81-18.pdf (1/4/06) Plane crash investigation begins Colo. A pathologist Saturday struggled with the Job of Identifying 15 victlms killed In the collision of a commuter flight and a skydivers' while government officials began a field investigation of the accident A wing of the commuter plane a Hadley Jetstream operated by Air US. sliced Into the fuselage of a single-engine Cessna carrying the parachutists Friday above the prairie just east of the Colorado Rockies. The pilot of the smaller craft and three skydlvers parachuted to safety but Air US Flight 716 plunged into a wheat creating a crater 10-feet deep and killing all 13 aboard. Two persons aboard the Cessna died in the collision but their bodies were carried to the ground by parachutes which opened automatically. -http://www.newspaperarchive.com/newspapers1/na0033/6666524/23313203.html (1/4/07) Posted at the FL Club: Updated memorial webpage Celeste Reid, MLS station agent & station manager http://DENFL1.tripod.com/Celeste_Reid.html Celeste is the youngest person in my files on the FL obituary lists. She was a month shy of being 22 when she died in an air crash on April 17, 1981 when her aircraft collided with a Cessna full of skydivers near Loveland CO. Jake (1/20/07) Posted at FLacebook and the FL Club: MLS station manager Celeste Reid's memorial webpage has been updated. http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Celeste_Reid.html Seven items added. Celeste, at age 21, is the youngest death in the FLamily. Still need a photo of her. -Jake Lamkins (10/10/12)