Dassault Falcon 50, Asheville, N.C., Nov. 24, 2008–The pilot’s failure to
ensure that the airplane’s wheels were properly secured before releasing the parking brake was the probable cause of the incident involving the Falcon 50, according to the NTSB. The first officer (FO) said that they had completed a short flight in the local area and performed an uneventful ILS approach to Runway 16 at Asheville Regional Airport. The FO stated that they taxied to the ramp and shut down the airplane, registered to Ingles Markets, using the normal shutdown checklist. The FO said that he told his son, the pilot-in-command, that he would open the cabin entry door and secure the airplane with chocks once outside. As the FO prepared to open the door, he realized the airplane was rolling and alerted the PIC, who had also left his seat. The PIC “got back in the left seat in an attempt to stop the aircraft.” The FO said that the hydraulic pressure was in a “diminished state” and the PIC could not stop the airplane before it contacted a fence. When asked if he knew why the airplane started to move, he said he “believes that his son, [the PIC had] assumed that [he] had opened the entry door and completed chocking the aircraft wheels.” According to the FO, the PIC “mistakenly released the parking brake, which had been set during the normal shutdown checklist procedure.” The PIC refused to provide a statement to either the NTSB or the FAA. None of the five people on board was injured in the incident.