Learjet LR60 N999LJ

Summary

On 20 September 2008 at about 03:53 local time, a Learjet LR60 registered N999LJ, operated by Global Exec Avaition, was involved in an accident near Columbia, South Carolina, United States. 6 people were on board and 4 died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 September 2008 at 03:53

Classification

Accident

Location

Columbia, South Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Columbia Metropolitan (KCAE)

Coordinates

33.9999, -81.0293

Aircraft

Learjet LR60

Registration

N999LJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Global Exec Avaition

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia → Van Nuys

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DCA08MA098

4 people died.

The operator’s inadequate maintenance of the airplane’s tires, which resulted in multiple tire failures during takeoff roll due to severe underinflation, and the captain’s execution of a rejected takeoff (RTO) after V1, which was inconsistent with her training and standard operating procedures. Contributing to the accident were (1) deficiencies in Learjet’s design of and the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) certification of the Learjet Model 60’s thrust reverser system, which permitted the failure of critical systems in the wheel well area to result in uncommanded forward thrust that increased the severity of the accident; (2) the inadequacy of Learjet’s safety analysis and the FAA’s review of it, which failed to detect and correct the thrust reverser and wheel well design deficiencies after a 2001 uncommanded forward thrust accident; (3) inadequate industry training standards for flight crews in tire failure scenarios; and (4) the flight crew’s poor crew resource management (CRM).

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The NTSB’s full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-10/02. On September 19, 2008, about 2353 eastern daylight time, a Bombardier Learjet Model 60, N999LJ, owned by Inter Travel and Services, Inc., and operated by Global Exec Aviation, overran runway 11 during a rejected takeoff at Columbia Metropolitan Airport, Columbia, South Carolina. The captain, the first officer, and two passengers were killed; two other passengers were seriously injured. The nonscheduled domestic passenger flight to Van Nuys, California, was operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.