In the first half of this year business jet operations worldwide suffered a single fatal accident compared with no fatal crashes in the same period last year. On January 18, a U.S.-registered Cessna Citation 525 on a Part 91 IFR flight plan broke up while maneuvering at altitude. The ATP-rated pilot and his passenger were killed. Also, business turboprop flying worldwide incurred fewer fatalities in the comparable time periods.
According to AIN research, N-numbered business jets were involved in three nonfatal mishaps in this year’s first half versus 11 in the same timespan last year. All three this year occurred under Part 91. No fatal accidents and just one nonfatal event were recorded for non-N-numbered business jets in the first six months of this year compared with four nonfatal crashes last year.
Additionally, a Boeing 777 experienced a “serious incident” on a private positioning flight from Riyadh to Le Bourget Paris. According to French investigators, “the crew made an approach to Runway 25. On short final, they decided to perform a go-around. The right wing and tailplane touched the runway. The aircraft returned to land on Runway 07.”
Fewer Fatalities for U.S. T-Props
Eleven people lost their lives in three accidents involving business turboprops on the U.S. registry from January through June 2016; there were 20 fatalities in five crashes in that time frame last year. Of those 2015 fatalities, nine people died in a single Part 135 crash and two were killed in the crash of a public-use turboprop. Nonfatal mishaps fell to 12 this year from 15 last year.
One such nonfatal event happened on February 25 when a Piper Malibu turboprop conversion skidded off the runway during landing. This same aircraft and same owner had a more serious landing predicament on Sept. 3, 2014. The NTSB preliminary report on the most recent accident states that the aircraft failed to respond quickly enough when the instructor pilot decided to abort a simulated engine failure on approach. “The airspeed decreased rapidly and the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall about 30 feet above the runway. The airplane struck the runway, about 500 feet from the approach threshold,” resulting in substantial damage to the wing spar and fuselage.
Non-N-numbered turboprops suffered six fatal crashes in the first half compared with four last year, but the number of fatalities fell to 19 from 22. Also, non-U.S.-registered turboprops were in 10 nonfatal crashes in the first half compared with six in the corresponding period last year.
The figures in the accompanying charts do not include the following: a Citation 560 was dinged June 8 when maintenance workers taxied the jet into a van; a Caravan 208 that incurred substantial damage June 5 when the tail stand collapsed while passengers were boarding; a parked Cessna 441 that was damaged when hit by a homebuilt aircraft during a crash landing on May 14; a Citation 525 that caught fire in a hangar on February 20; and the crash on April 6 of a Japanese Air Force Hawker 800, killing all six people aboard.