2008 South Carolina Learjet 60 crash

On the night of September 19, 2008, a Learjet 60 business jet (registration N999LJ)[2] operating for Global Exec Aviation crashed during take-off from Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina.[3][4]

South Carolina Learjet 60
The remains of N999LJ
Accident
DateSeptember 19, 2008 (2008-09-19)
SummaryRunway overrun due to maintenance error and pilot error
Site2860 Edmund Highway, near Columbia Metropolitan Airport
33.937°N 81.1053°W / 33.937; -81.1053
Aircraft
Aircraft typeLearjet 60
OperatorGlobal Exec Aviation[1]
RegistrationN999LJ
Flight originColumbia Metropolitan Airport
DestinationVan Nuys, California
Occupants6
Passengers4
Crew2
Fatalities4
Injuries2
Survivors2

Four of the six people on board died in the crash. The survivors, musician Travis Barker and disc jockey Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, were critically injured.[5] The jet had been due to fly Barker, Goldstein, and their entourage to Van Nuys, California, after their TRV$DJAM band's performance at a concert in Five Points.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved was a Learjet 60 that had first flown in 2006, receiving its airworthiness certificate on December 14. It was powered by two Pratt & Whitney PW305A turbofan engines and had 108.5 flight hours with 123 take off and landing cycles.[6]:7

The captain was Sarah Lemmon, 31, of Anaheim Hills, California and the first officer was James Bland, 52, of Carlsbad, California. Both pilots had joined Global Exec Aviation the same year of the accident.[6]

Captain Lemmon had 3,140 flight hours, including 35 hours on the Learjet 60, though only eight of them were as a captain of that aircraft. An instructor described her as having "excellent" crew resource management. However, she had received several notices of disapprovals during her training.[6]

First officer Bland had 8,200 flight hours with 300 of them on the Learjet 60. The director of Global Exec Aviation, who had flown with both crew members of the accident flight, described Bland as "not overly assertive."[6]

Accident

The aircraft overran the runway end, crashed through the airport boundary fence, crossed South Carolina Highway 302, and came to rest onto an embankment, bursting into flames.[7]

Victims and survivors

Both pilots were killed, as were two others.

Barker and Goldstein escaped the plane and told first responders four others were on board. Both suffered second and third degree burns.[3]

Investigation

On the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) the pilot indicates she is reacting to the apparent sound of a tire burst and attempting a rejected takeoff. Pieces of a tire were found at the crash site.[8] The plane did not carry a flight data recorder (FDR).

The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) report attributed the accident to tire bursts during take-off and the pilot's resulting decision to abort at high speed. Several tires were severely under-inflated and punctured during take-off. The captain aborted at 144 knots (267 km/h; 166 mph). The normal operating procedure for Learjet 60s is never to abort above the "go/no-go" decision speed V1 , which for this particular take-off was 136 knots (252 km/h; 157 mph). In other words, the captain had aborted the takeoff after V1 , violating these operating procedures. The first officer can be heard saying the appropriate "go go go" on the CVR. A contributing factor was the engines giving full power, even though the pilots were applying reverse thrust. The reason for this was the aircraft's air/ground sensor was damaged by debris and caused the sensor to go to "air" mode. Investigators also found that the captain had limited experience in the Learjet 60 and that the company’s tire pressure inspections were inadequate.[6]

Lawsuits

Both survivors, as well as the estates of two of the deceased, sued for damages from parties including Learjet, tire manufacturer Goodyear, and, in at least Goldstein's case, against the estates of the dead pilots.[9]

See also

References
  1. "NTSB releases final report on plane crash involving Travis Barker, DJ AM". WISTV.com. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  2. "FAA Registry (N999LJ)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  3. "Crew in crash died of burns, smoke inhalation". TODAY.com. NBC News Digital. Associated Press. September 22, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  4. Kinnard, Meg (October 22, 2008). "Experts: Pilots of doomed Learjet should've lifted off SC runway instead of trying to stop". NewsDay. Associated Press.
  5. Boucher, Geoff; Oldham, Jennifer (September 20, 2008). "Former Blink-182 drummer, popular DJ survive plane crash that killed 4". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2008.
  6. "Runway Overrun During Rejected Takeoff, Global Exec Aviation, Bombardier Learjet 60, N999LJ, Columbia, South Carolina, September 19, 2008" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. April 6, 2010. NTSB/AAR-10/02. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  7. Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Learjet 60 N999LJ Columbia Metropolitan Airport, SC (CAE)". aviation-safety.net. Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  8. Davenport, Jim (September 21, 2008), "Feds say doomed SC jet crew thought tire blew out", Examiner.com
  9. "DJ 'seeks $20m over plane crash'". BBC News. BBC. March 17, 2009. Archived from the original on March 18, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2009.
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