The crew of a Dassault Falcon 10 failed to properly configure the twinjet’s thrust reversers for landing, at least in part due to using an inappropriate checklist, resulting in a June 6, 2023, runway excursion at Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (KECP) in Panama City, according to an NTSB final report. None of the five occupants were injured, but the aircraft was substantially damaged when it overran the runway, struck light poles, and collapsed its landing gear in sand.
“The airplane checklist found in the cockpit was marked ‘For Training Purposes Only’ and for an airplane that was not equipped with thrust reversers,” the NTSB report notes. The NTSB cited the inappropriate checklist as a contributing factor in the accident.
Originating from Atlanta Cobb County International Airport-McCollum Field (KRYY), the twinjet—operating under Part 91—was on an ILS approach to Runway 16 at KECP. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The crew reported that all systems operated normally through taxi, takeoff, and en-route phases of the flight. Landing gear and flaps were deployed without issue, and hydraulic parameters were normal.
The jet touched down approximately 2,500 feet from the runway threshold on the 10,000-foot runway. After deploying the airbrakes, the pilot flying put engines into reverse idle and attempted to engage the thrust reversers, but they did not deploy.
A warning horn sounded, and the captain called out “no brakes” after he applied normal brakes and the aircraft still failed to slow. The copilot attempted braking as well, with no effect. Neither normal nor emergency braking slowed the jet. Despite recycling the brake and thrust reverser systems, and the pilot pulling the emergency brake handle to its full stop position, the aircraft did not slow adequately, according to the NTSB report.
Because the thrust reverser levers were still in the deployed position, the crew could not shut down the engines via the throttles. Then the aircraft overran the runway, struck multiple approach light stanchions, and came to rest in soft sand after bouncing over a mound, causing the landing gear to collapse. A small post-accident fire on the left wing was extinguished using the cockpit fire extinguisher.
“The pilot stated that he did not consider telling the copilot to pull the fire handles (another means of shutting down the engines) because the airplane was exiting the prepared surface of the runway and he was distracted by approaching obstacles,” the report notes. “The pilot used the rudder to maneuver the airplane between two runway approach lighting support poles, but the airplane’s wings struck the poles, which damaged the inboard portions of the wings back to both engine inlets.”
After the accident, the captain discovered that the thrust reverser emergency stow switches were still in the stow position—an abnormal configuration that he had neglected to reset following preflight checks. According to the aircraft’s supplemental procedures, attempting to deploy thrust reversers while the switches remain in the stowed position will cause the disagree warning horn to sound and prevent reverser actuation.
Thrust reversers had been installed via supplemental type certificate, and the aircraft’s onboard checklist was marked “For Training Purposes Only” and did not reflect the thrust reverser configuration.
A cockpit voice recorder with a 30-minute recording loop was recovered from the wreckage, and the tape, which was severed, was repaired by investigators. However, it contained outdated audio from a previous registration and provided no relevant data. “The audio information contained on the tape was from 2017 or earlier,” the report noted.