At least one person was killed and three injured when a Learjet 35A believed to be owned by rock musician Vince Neil suffered a landing gear collapse on Monday afternoon after touching down at Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) in Arizona and careening into a parked Gulfstream G200.
The accident occurred around 2:45 p.m. local time as the Learjet registered as N81VN was arriving from Austin, Texas, with four people aboard. It lost control midfield and departed the runway. On the ramp near the Southwest Jet Center private hangar complex, it impacted the Gulfstream, which was managed by charter operator Jet Pros.
A statement from the City of Scottsdale said that the Learjet’s left main landing gear collapsed, causing the runway excursion. Surveillance video captured the moment of collision as the light twinjet skidded off the runway at a high rate of speed and struck the stationary G200 on the right side behind the wing, moving it forward.
According to the city, one person was pronounced dead at the scene and three were transported to a local hospital. A fifth person declined medical attention.
Jet Pros reported no injuries on board the Gulfstream, but external damage was sustained to the aircraft. The Scottsdale-based company expressed condolences to the family members of those affected by the accident and thanked airport personnel for their swift response.
A spate of high-profile aircraft accidents in late January and early February has brought the U.S. into the deadliest period in more than two decades, claiming the lives of a combined 85 people both on board and on the ground. While all disparate, two involving business aviation and two commercial services (one also involving the military), the accidents have shone a public spotlight on aviation in the U.S. after a 15-year period that many would have called the safest in the industry.
The accidents prompted a pledge from 30 aviation associations to recommit their efforts to safety and calls for full funding for critical FAA air traffic control (ATC) systems, controller staffing, and the NTSB.
In the midst of this, it also led Elon Musk, head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to vow to take rapid steps to upgrade the ATC system. What that will look like is unknown. It also reportedly drew support from newly minted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about possibly extending the controller retirement.
In the aftermath of the accidents, particularly the January 29 collision of a PSA Bombardier-built CRJ700 regional airliner and U.S. Army Sikorsky H-60 Black Hawk that alone led to 67 fatalities aboard both aircraft, lawmakers on Capitol Hill stressed the need to allow the NTSB to complete its investigations before making judgments on cause.
Even so, intense speculation swirled after the CRJ/Black Hawk midair, which occurred over the Potomac River by Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA), with scrutiny on controller staffing and U.S. Army training missions along the river. The FAA, meanwhile, barred helicopter flights on specific routes by KDCA unless specifically authorized. In those cases, fixed-wing flights will be held off to avoid the mixing of the two types.
The CRJ, with 64 aboard, had been on short final into DCA, circling to land on Runway 33 when the Black Hawk, with three people aboard on a nighttime training mission flying south over the Potomac, collided with the airliner. The NTSB recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder of the CRJ as well as the Black Hawk’s combined FDR/CVR. A controller at DCA, in communication with both aircraft, had advised the Black Hawk to wait for the CRJ to pass. The Black Hawk affirmed the instruction.
Meanwhile, on January 31, a Med Jets Learjet 55 on medevac duty crashed in northeastern Philadelphia shortly after takeoff from Northeast Philadelphia Airport (KPNE). The Mexico-registered twinjet was headed to Missouri’s Springfield-Branson National Airport (KSGF) when it went down in a residential neighborhood less than three miles from KPNE. All six aboard died in the crash, along with one person on the ground with two dozen more injured.
This was followed by the February crash of a Bering Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan into an ice floe into the Norton Sound in Alaska, killing all 10 aboard. The airplane, on a scheduled flight from Unalakleet Airport to Nome Airport, was found a little more than 30 miles from Nome.
Also, one person was killed and three injured on February 10 when a Learjet 35A believed to be owned by rock musician Vince Neil suffered a landing gear collapse after touching down at Scottsdale Airport (KSDL) in Arizona and careening into a parked Gulfstream G200.