Learjet 35A N30DK

Summary

On 24 October 2004 at about 07:25 local time, a Learjet 35A registered N30DK was involved in an accident near San Diego, California, United States. 5 people were on board and 5 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 October 2004 at 07:25

Classification

Accident

Location

San Diego, California, United States

Nearest airport

Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM)

Coordinates

32.5686, -116.8444

Aircraft

Learjet 35A

Registration

N30DK

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

San Diego → Albuquerque

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

LAX05FA015

5 people died.

The failure of the flight crew to maintain terrain clearance during a VFR departure, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain, and the air traffic controller's issuance of a clearance that transferred the responsibility for terrain clearance from the flight crew to the controller, failure to provide terrain clearance instructions to the flight crew, and failure to advise the flight crew of the MSAW alerts. Contributing to the accident was the pilots' fatigue, which likely contributed to their degraded decision-making.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Safety Board adopted the final report of this accident investigation, including the analysis and probable cause, on May 23, 2006. The Board's full report is available on : http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2006/AAB0605.pdf On October 24, 2004, about 0025 Pacific daylight time, a Learjet 35A twin-turbofan airplane, N30DK, registered to and operated by Med Flight Air Ambulance, Inc. (MFAA), collided into mountainous terrain shortly after takeoff from Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), near San Diego, California. The captain, the copilot, and the three medical crewmembers received fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The repositioning flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 with an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan filed. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight, which was the fourth and final leg of a trip that originated the previous day, departed SDM at 0023.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.