Story ID: 
Fatality-free 2015 U.S. Bizjet Accident Streak Ends
By: Gordon Gilbert
Caption: N-numbered business jets and turboprops still have incurred fewer accidents year-over-year. 
Word Count: 754
On August 16 one of the longest streaks without a fatal accident among U.S.-registered business jets came to an end. On that day, a Sabreliner and a Cessna 172 collided in midair near San Diego, killing all four people aboard the jet and the sole occupant of the Skyhawk. The civilian jet was operating under Part 91 but on a mission for the military at the time of the collision. Until this event, no N-numbered business jet had been involved in a fatal crash between January and mid-August.

However, both N-numbered business jets and turboprops incurred more overall accidents year-over-year. According to AIN research, 15 people were killed in four crashes in the first three quarters of last year, a higher toll than the four fatalities in the San Diego Sabreliner accident this year. Part 91 operations accounted for all the fatal accidents in both periods.

The NTSB recently concluded its investigation of one of the business jet fatal accidents last year: the crash of a GIV attempting to take off at Bedford, Mass., on May 31, 2014. The Safety Board determined the probable causes to be “the flight crewmembers’ failure to perform the flight control check before takeoff, their attempt to take off with the gust-lock system engaged, and their delayed execution of a rejected takeoff after they became aware that the controls were locked.”

Contributing to the accident were “Gulfstream’s failure to ensure that the GIV gust lock/throttle lever interlock system would prevent an attempted takeoff with the gust lock engaged, the FAA’s failure to detect this inadequacy during the GIV’s certification and the flight crew’s habitual noncompliance with checklists.” In addition, the investigation revealed that a flight control check had not been completed on 98 percent of the previous 175 flights in the airplane.

Another completed investigation involved a deliberate descent below DH that led to an accident that killed all nine aboard. The crash of a Learjet 35A on a second ILS approach in IMC to Runway 6 at Freeport International Airport, Bahamas, on Nov. 9, 2014, was caused by “the poor decision making of the crew in initiating and continuing a descent in IMC below the authorized altitude without visual contact with the runway environment,” according to the final report from the Bahamas Air Accident Investigation & Prevention Unit (AAIPU).

The AAIPU report lists contributing factors as bad weather, improper planning for the approach, insufficient situational awareness, inadequate CRM and the crew’s deliberate disabling of the Taws. According to the CVR transcript, one of the crewmembers said, “Aw shut up,” after which the Taws alerts of “too low, terrain, pull up” ceased.
Turboprop Fatalities Up
Eight fatal U.S. turboprop mishaps during the third quarter killed 25 people, compared with 20 deaths in eight accidents (all Part 91) for the same period last year. Of the eight fatal mishaps this year, seven were Part 91 and one was Part 135. The one air-taxi fatal mishap involved a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Turbine Otter. Reduced visibility prevailed on June 25, 2015, when the aircraft hit a near-vertical rock face at an elevation of about 1,600 feet msl while on a sightseeing flight in Alaska. The pilot and all eight passengers perished in the crash.

Non-U.S.-registered turbine business airplanes suffered more nonfatal accidents in the recent period versus last year. But it wasn’t until the third quarter of this year that non-U.S.-registered business jets had their first fatal crashes. This year, 11 people lost their lives in two accidents, one of which was a private operation and the other an air ambulance flight. Between January and September last year, 19 people died in four accidents, and only one was operating on a private mission.

The fatality toll among non-N-numbered turboprops remained unchanged in both comparable periods: 28 people died in eight crashes in the third quarter of this year and 28 were killed in seven accidents in the corresponding nine months last year.

The statistics in this article and the accompanying charts do not include the August 28 ground collision that damaged a Falcon 2000, a Falcon 50 and a King Air C90 at Las Vegas McCarran International Airport. According to the NTSB, the pilot of the Falcon 2000 said that after the preflight and before-takeoff checklist had been completed, and with the parking brake set to on, a ground handler pulled the chocks and the airplane immediately began rolling. Neither the toe brakes nor emergency braking slowed or stopped the airplane, the pilot told investigators.