Events of April 2, 1997
Captain Button took off in his single-seat A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft on a training mission with two other A-10s from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. His jet was armed with four Mk-82 bombs, 60 magnesium flares, 120 metal chaff canisters and 575 rounds of 30-millimeter ammunition. This training mission would have been the first time Captain Button dropped live ordnance.
Near Gila Bend, Arizona, after being refueled in-flight, Captain Button unexpectedly broke formation. He flew in a northeasterly direction towards the Four Corners area of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. His jet was spotted numerous times by observers on the ground. One observer, an off-duty pilot, said the jet appeared to maneuver around bad weather. This observation suggested to the Air Force that the aircraft was being flown manually and purposefully. The flight was tracked by radar in Phoenix, Albuquerque and Denver. But because Captain Button's transponder was turned off, the aircraft was only tracked, not identified. It was only after analyzing radar data later that investigators were able to track Button's flight.
The jet zig-zagged near the end of its flight. It was last spotted in the air about 100 miles (160 km) west of Denver. The jet impacted terrain about 15 miles (24 km) SW of Vail, Colorado, on Gold Dust Peak (39°28′44″N 106°35′40″W / 39.47889°N 106.59444°W / 39.47889; -106.59444Coordinates: 39°28′44″N 106°35′40″W / 39.47889°N 106.59444°W / 39.47889; -106.59444) in a remote part of Eagle County. The Air Force concluded the jet probably had two to five minutes of fuel remaining when it crashed. The impact occurred at about 13,200 feet (4,000 m) of elevation, just 100 feet (30 m) below the summit. The debris field was over a quarter-mile-square area (0.64 km2). Pieces of the canopy and cockpit went over a ridge.
Read more about this topic: Craig D. Button
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