Key Lime Air is a United States

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

with corporate headquarters at

Denver International Airport Denver International Airport , often referred to by locals as DIA, is an international airport in the Western United States, primarily serving metropolitan Denver, Colorado, as well as the greater Front Range Urban Corridor. At , Effective Ju ...

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, within the

Denver metropolitan area Denver is the central city of a conurbation region in the U.S. state of Colorado. The conurbation includes one continuous region consisting of the six central counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson. The Denver regi ...

. Established in 1997, Key Lime Air operates scheduled air service, various types of public and private charter (under its Denver Air Connection brand), and

United Parcel Service United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) is an American multinational corporation, multinational package delivery, shipping & receiving and supply chain management company founded in 1907. Originally known as the American Messenger Company specializi ...

cargo feeder operations.

Denver Air Connection

Key Lime Air operates FAR Part 121 scheduled regional flights through its Denver Air Connection brand from

. Additionally, Key Lime operates public

air charter Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flight ...

services under FAR Part 135 from Denver's Centennial Airport.

Cargo operations

Key Lime Air operates on-demand cargo flights using

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner (previously the Swearingen Metro and later Fairchild Aerospace Metro) is a 19-seat, Cabin pressurization, pressurized, twin-turboprop airliner first produced by Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation, Swearingen ...

aircraft. Cargo operations carry UPS overnight and express delivery packages throughout

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, and

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Fleet

The Key Lime Air fleet includes:

Incidents and accidents

* December 30, 2014 – A Key Lime Air

Cessna 404 The Cessna 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna, Cessna Aircraft. It was the company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and ...

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much li ...

''N404MG'', operating as Flight LYM182, had an engine fail shortly after takeoff from Centennial Airport, Englewood, Colorado, and the pilot was unable to successfully return to the airport. The airplane was destroyed and the pilot and sole occupant were killed. The reason for the engine failure could not be conclusively determined, but the pilot did not properly secure the failed engine, making it more difficult to continue flying. * January 21, 2015 – Key Lime Air

Piper PA-31 The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of twin-engined low-wing tricycle gear utility aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for small cargo airline, cargo and regional airline, feeder airlines, and as a corporate aircraft. Production ran f ...

''N66906'', on a cargo flight to Colby, Kansas, crashed while attempting an emergency landing at Goodland Municipal Airport after one engine failed and the other engine lost power. The aircraft struck power lines before crashing in a field; the pilot and sole aircraft occupant were not injured but the aircraft sustained serious damage. The crash was attributed to

fuel starvation In an internal combustion engine, fuel starvation is the failure of the fuel system to supply sufficient fuel to allow the engine to run properly, for example due to blockage, vapor lock, contamination by water, malfunction of the fuel pump or i ...

caused by the pilot's poor fuel management; a contributing factor was pilot fatigue. * December 5, 2016 – Key Lime Air Fairchild Swearingen SA-227DC Metro ''N765FA'', operating as Flight LYM308, crashed in Camilla, Georgia after both wings failed. The flight was en route to

Southwest Georgia Regional Airport Southwest Georgia Regional Airport is an airport four miles southwest of Albany, in Dougherty County, Georgia, in the United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ''primary commercial ser ...

and there were heavy rains and storms in the area at the time. The sole aircraft occupant, the pilot, was killed. The accident was attributed to the pilot's decision to continue flight into an area of known severe weather, his loss of control due to

spatial disorientation Spatial disorientation is the inability to determine position or relative motion, commonly occurring during periods of challenging visibility, since visual system, vision is the dominant sense for orientation. The auditory system, vestibular system ...

, and the aircraft's ensuing in-flight breakup. * May 12, 2021 – A

Cirrus SR22 The Cirrus SR22 is a single-engine four- or five-seat composite aircraft built since 2001 by Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is a development of the Cirrus SR20, with a larger wing, higher fuel capacity and more powerfu ...

''N416DJ'' and Key Lime Air Flight 970, Swearingen SA-226-TC Metro ''N280KL'' operating a charter cargo flight, collided on approach to Centennial Airport in Colorado. The Cirrus made a safe off-airport parachute-assisted landing, while the Key Lime pilot landed safely at Centennial despite the loss of a section of the cabin roof, and damage to the

empennage The empennage ( or ), also known as the tail or tail assembly, is a structure at the rear of an aircraft that provides stability during flight, in a way similar to the feathers on an arrow.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third ed ...

. There were no injuries. * December 15, 2022 – A Key Lime Air

SA-226-TC, ''N398KL'', while returning to Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport in

Wichita, KS Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, attempted to land with the gear in the up position. The pilot reportedly heard his propeller blades scrape the runway as he flared for landing. He immediately executed a go-around, extended his landing gear, and landed uneventfully soon after. The airplane was extensively damaged in the accident.

References

External links

*
Charter Alliance Group LLC. dba Denver Air Connection (DCA)
{{Airlines of the United States, state=collapsed Regional airlines of the United States Airlines established in 1997 Cargo airlines of the United States 1997 establishments in Colorado Airlines based in Colorado Aviation in the United States