Two Finished, One To Go

With the recent issuance of a probable cause, the NTSB has completed its investigation into the second of two cargo Falcon 20 accidents on the same day by the same operator–Grand Aire Express of Toledo, Ohio. The Safety Board is still investigating the November 30 crash of the company’s Hansa Jet that killed the two pilots, including the founder and president of Grand Aire. In its findings in the case of the company’s Falcon 20 that flamed out April 8, 2003, during its second attempt to land at St. Louis Lambert Field and subsequent ditching into the Mississippi River, the NTSB blamed the pilot for his “improper inflight decision not to divert to an alternate destination,” resulting in fuel exhaustion, and his “failure to relay his low fuel state to ATC in a timely manner.” Both pilots were injured.