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By Mike Mitchell |
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April 7, 2010
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The National Transportation Board has ruled that chartered business jet
crashed at a
On September 19,
2008, at 11:53 p.m. EDT, a Bombardier Learjet Model 60 (N999LJ) operated
by Global Exec Aviation and destined for |
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The investigation revealed that prior to the
accident the aircraft was operated while the main landing gear tires
were severely underinflated because of Global Exec Aviation’s
inadequate maintenance. The underinflation compromised the integrity
of the tires, which led to the failure of all four of the airplane’s
main landing gear tires during the takeoff roll.
Shortly after the first tire failed, which occurred
about 1.5 seconds after the airplane passed the maximum speed at which
the takeoff attempt could be safely aborted, the first officer indicated
that the takeoff should be continued but the captain decided to reject
the takeoff and deployed the airplane’s thrust reversers. Pilots are
trained to avoid attempting to reject a takeoff at high-speed unless the
pilot concludes that the airplane is unable to fly; the investigation
found no evidence that the accident airplane was uncontrollable or
unable to become airborne. The tire failure during the takeoff roll damaged a sensor, which caused the airplane’s thrust reversers to return to the stowed position. While the captain was trying to stop the airplane by commanding reverse thrust, forward thrust was being provided at near-takeoff power because the thrust reversers were stowed. The Safety Board determined that the inadvertent forward thrust contributed to the severity of the accident. |
The Safety Board
also found that neither the Federal Aviation Administration nor Learjet
adequately reviewed the Airplane’s design after a similar uncommanded
forward thrust accident that occurred during landing in
“This accident
chain started with something as basic as inadequate tire inflation and
ended in tragedy,” said NTSB Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman. “This
entirely avoidable crash should reinforce to everyone in the aviation
community that there are no small maintenance items because every time a
plane takes off, lives are on the line.”
The safety
recommendations that the NTSB made to the Federal Aviation
Administration as a result of this investigation are:
-provide pilots
and maintenance personnel with information on the hazards associated
with tire underinflation, including the required intervals for tire
pressure checks, and allow pilots to perform pressure checks in air taxi
operations to ensure that tires remain safely inflated at all times;
-require tire
pressure monitoring systems for all transport category airplanes;
-identify and
correct deficiencies in both Learjet’s thrust reverser system safety
analysis and the FAA’s design certification process to ensure that
hazards encountered in all phases of flight are mitigated
- require that
simulator training for pilots who conduct turbojet operations include
opportunities to practice responding to events other than engine
failures near takeoff speeds
- require that
pilots who fly air taxi turbojet operations have a minimum level of
pilot operating experience in an airplane type before acting as
pilot-in- command in that type; and require that airplane tire testing
criteria reflect the loads that may be imposed on tires both during
normal operating conditions and after the loss of one tire. |
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