Learjet 35 N979RF

Summary

On 2 December 2022 at about 02:08 local time, a Learjet 35 registered N979RF, operated by REVA, Inc., was involved in an accident near Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 5 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 December 2022 at 02:08

Classification

Accident

Location

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Nearest airport

Guantanamo Bay Naval Air Stati (MUGM)

Coordinates

19.9062, -75.1996

Aircraft

Learjet 35

Registration

N979RF

Category

Airplane

Year built

1981

Engines

2

Operator

REVA, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fort Lauderdale → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA23LA081

Nobody was injured.

The flight crew’s continuation of an unstable approach which resulted in abnormal runway contact during the landing flare and touchdown.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight crew reported that during a civilian positioning flight to pick up a medical patient, they were cleared to land via a visual approach at night. During the base segment in the traffic pattern, the first officer, who was the pilot flying, lost sight of the runway and transferred the flight controls to the captain at an altitude of about 900 ft mean sea level. The first officer stated that after the exchange of the flight controls, the “aircraft was on short final and passed over the threshold at an angle.” Subsequently, during the captain’s landing flare and touchdown, the stick shaker activated, and the left wing dropped and impacted the runway. The captain completed the landing roll, stopped the airplane on the runway, and all of the occupants exited without incident. The impact with the runway resulted in substantial damage to the left wing. The flight crew did not report any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.