Canadair CL-600 Challenger

Platinum Jet Management

On February 2, 2005, about 0718 eastern standard time, a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V, ran off the departure end of runway 6 at Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, at a ground speed of about 110 knots; through an airport perimeter fence; across a six-lane highway (where it struck a vehicle); and into a parking lot before impacting a building. The two pilots were seriously injured, as were two occupants in the vehicle. The cabin aide, eight passengers, and one person in the building received minor injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postimpact fire. The accident flight was an on-demand passenger charter flight from TEB to Chicago Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The flight was subject to the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 and operated by Platinum Jet Management, LLC (PJM), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under the auspices of a charter management agreement with Darby Aviation (Darby), Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.

Hop-a-Jet

While enroute from Pueblo, Colorado, to Columbia, South Carolina, the captain's windshield delaminated, and the flight diverted to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for repairs. The flight crew stated the first officer was flying the airplane and had been instructed by the captain to make a firm landing at Fort Lauderdale to get the airplanes weight on the wheels, due to the airplane being light. The landing was firm and the first officer activated the engine thrust reversers. As the nose landing gear touched down, the airplane began veering to the left. Attempts to control the veer to the left were unsuccessful and the airplane ran off the left side of the runway. The airplane then ran over a taxiway and collided with a taxiway sign and the concrete base for the sign. The nose landing gear collapsed and the airplane came to rest. Examination of the runway showed alternating dark and light marks from the left main landing gear tire were present on the runway about 160 feet before marks from the right main landing gear tire are present. Post accident examination of the airplanes landing gear, tires, wheels, bakes, spoilers, and engine thrust reversers, showed no evidence of pre-accident failure or malfunction. At the time of the accident the flight crew had been on duty for about 17 hours 45 minutes.

A. E. Staley Manufacturing Company

The aircraft crashed into the side of a mountain ridge during a VFR attempt to land at an airport with no instrument approach. The mountain ridge was obscured by broken clouds. The pilot had cancelled his IFR clearance, and during the descent to the airport, he had descended below clouds near the airport with clouds still obscuring some of the terrain. One mile visibility was a requirement for the VFR approach. According to witness statements, the aircraft continued to remain below the clouds and the pilot continued the approach even though he was not properly positioned to make a successful landing. The pilot had a partial occlusion of a coronary artery, but its relationship to the accident was not determined. The aircraft impacted at about 6,250 feet msl. The field elevation is 5,315 feet msl. The accident site was about 2 1/2 mi from the airport. The airport was located in a mountain valley about 1 to 1.25 mi wide. Also, the airport and surrounding terrain were covered with snow. Both pilots were killed.

Bombardier Aerospace

The crew departed Mojave-Kern County Airport in the morning on a series of tests on this new Bombardier prototype. While in cruising altitude, the crew initiated an unscheduled stall when the airplane reached an angle of attack of 34°. Control was lost and the airplane entered a dive. All three crew members bailed out and the airplane crashed in a desert area. Two crew members were injured while the third occupant was killed as his parachute failed to open.