1999 South Dakota Learjet crash
Encyclopedia
On October 25, 1999, a chartered Learjet 35 was scheduled to fly from Orlando, Florida
to Dallas, Texas
. Early in the flight the aircraft, which was cruising at altitude on autopilot, gradually lost cabin pressure. As a result, all on board were incapacitated due to hypoxia
— a lack of oxygen. The aircraft failed to make the westward turn toward Dallas over north Florida, and continued flying over the southern and midwestern United States for almost four hours and 1500 miles (2,414 km), until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field near Aberdeen, South Dakota
after an uncontrolled descent. Among the six people on board were golf
star Payne Stewart
and Bruce Borland
, a highly regarded golf architect with the Jack Nicklaus
golf course design company.
On October 25, 1999, Learjet 35, registration N47BA, operated by Sunjet Aviation, Inc., of Sanford, Florida, departed Orlando at 1319Z (0919 EDT) on a two-day, five-flight trip. Before departure, the aircraft had been fueled with 5300 lb (2,404 kg) of Jet A
, enough for 4 hours and 45 minutes of flight. On board were two pilots and four passengers.
At 1327:13Z, the controller
from the Jacksonville
ARTCC
instructed the pilot to climb and maintain flight level
(FL) 390 (39000 feet (11,887.2 m) above sea level). At 1327:18Z (0927:18 EDT), the pilot acknowledged the clearance by stating, "three nine zero bravo alpha." This was the last known radio transmission from the airplane, and occurred while the aircraft was passing through 23000 feet (7,010.4 m). The next attempt to contact the aircraft occurred six minutes, 20 seconds later (14 minutes after departure), with the aircraft at 36500 feet (11,125.2 m), and the controller's message went unacknowledged. The controller attempted to contact N47BA five more times in the next 4½ minutes, again with no answer.
test pilot
from the 40th Flight Test Squadron
at Eglin Air Force Base
, Florida, who happened to be in the air nearby, was directed by controllers to intercept N47BA. When the fighter was about 2000 feet (609.6 m) from the Learjet, at an altitude of about 46400 feet (14,142.7 m), the test pilot made two radio calls to N47BA but did not receive a response. The F-16 pilot made a visual inspection of the Lear, finding no visible damage to the airplane. Both engines were running, and the plane's red rotating anti-collision beacon was on (standard operation for aircraft in flight). The fighter pilot could not see inside the passenger section of the airplane because the windows seemed to be dark. Further, he stated that the entire right cockpit windshield was opaque, as if condensation or ice covered the inside. He also indicated that the left cockpit windshield was opaque, although several sections of the center of the windshield seemed to be only thinly covered by condensation or ice; a small rectangular section of the windshield was clear, with only a small section of the glare shield visible through this area. He did not see any flight control movement. About 1512Z, the F-16 pilot concluded his inspection of N47BA and broke formation, proceeding to Scott AFB, Illinois
.
Air National Guard
(ANG), flying under the call-sign "TULSA 13 flight", were directed by the Minneapolis ARTCC to intercept. The TULSA 13 lead pilot reported that he could not see any movement in the cockpit, that the windshield was dark and that he could not tell if the windshield was iced. A few minutes later, a TULSA 13 pilot reported, "We're not seeing anything inside, could be just a dark cockpit though...he is not reacting, moving or anything like that he should be able to have seen us by now." At 1639Z, TULSA 13 left to rendezvous with a tanker for refueling
.
The aircraft's altitude varied from 22000 feet (6,705.6 m) to 51000 feet (15,544.8 m).
ANG F-16s with the identification "NODAK 32 flight" were directed to intercept N47BA. TULSA 13 flight also returned from refueling, and all four fighters maneuvered close to the Lear. The TULSA 13 lead pilot reported, "We've got two visuals on it. It's looking like the cockpit window is iced over and there's no displacement in any of the control surfaces as far as the aileron
s or trims." About 1701Z, TULSA 13 flight returned to the tanker again, while NODAK 32 remained with N47BA.
The Learjet's cockpit voice recorder (CVR)
, which was recovered from the wreckage, contained an audio recording of the last 30 minutes of the flight (it was an older model which only recorded 30 minutes of data; the aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder
). At 1710:41Z, the Learjet's engines can be heard winding down, indicating that the plane's fuel had been exhausted. In addition, sounds of the stick shaker
and autopilot
disconnect can be heard (with the engines powered down, the autopilot would have attempted to maintain altitude, causing the plane's airspeed
to bleed off until it approached stall
speed, at which point the stick shaker would have automatically engaged to warn the pilot and the autopilot would have switched itself off).
At 1711:01Z, the Lear began a right turn and descent. One NODAK 32 airplane remained to the west, while one TULSA 13 airplane broke away from the tanker and followed N47BA down. At 1211:26 CDT, the NODAK 32 lead pilot reported, "The target is descending and he is doing multiple aileron roll
s, looks like he's out of control...in a severe descent, request an emergency descent to follow target." The TULSA 13 pilot reported, "It's soon to impact the ground; he is in a descending spiral."
Impact occurred approximately 1713Z, or 1213 local, after a total flight time of 3 hours, 54 minutes, with the aircraft hitting the ground at a nearly supersonic speed and an extreme angle. The Learjet crashed just outside of Mina, South Dakota, in Edmunds County
on relatively flat ground, and left a crater 42 feet (12.8 m) long, 21 feet (6.4 m) wide and 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. None of its components remained intact.
for Boeing 707
, Boeing 720
, and Learjet 35. He also had Air Force experience flying the KC-135
and E-3 Sentry
. He was also an instructor pilot on a Maine Air National Guard
KC-135E. According to Sunjet Aviation records, the captain had accumulated a total of 4,280 hours of flight time (including his military flight time) and had flown a total of 60 hours with Sunjet, 38 as a Learjet pilot-in-command and 22 as a Learjet second-in-command.
The first officer, Stephanie Bellegarrigue, age 27 at the time of the accident, held a commercial pilot certificate and type ratings for Learjet and Cessna Citation 500. She was also a certified flight instructor. She had accumulated a total of 1,751 hours of flight time, of which 251 hours were with Sunjet Aviation as a second-in-command and 99 as a Learjet second-in-command.
has several levels of investigation, of which the highest is a "major" investigation. In the last ten years, the NTSB has conducted 35 major investigations of aircraft crashes. Because of the extraordinary circumstances in this crash, a major investigation was performed.
The NTSB determined that:
In addition, the Board concluded that:
The NTSB report showed that the plane had several instances of maintenance work related to cabin pressure in the months leading up to the accident. The NTSB was unable to determine whether they stemmed from a common problem - replacements and repairs were documented, but not the pilot discrepancy reports that prompted them or the frequency of such reports. The report gently chides Sunjet Aviation for the possibility that this would have made the problem harder to identify, track, and resolve; as well as the fact that in at least one instance the plane was flown with an unauthorized maintenance deferral for cabin pressure problems.
, but planned a stop in Dallas for discussions with the athletic department of his alma mater, Southern Methodist University
, about building a new home course for the school's golf program. Stewart was memorialized at the Tour Championship with a lone bagpipe player playing at the first hole at Champions Golf Club
prior to the beginning of the first day of play.
The 2000 U.S. Open
, held at Pebble Beach Golf Links
, began with a golf version of a 21-gun salute
when 21 of Stewart's fellow players simultaneously hit balls into the Pacific Ocean.
In 2001, Stewart was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
.
On June 8, 2005, a Florida state court jury in Orlando found that Learjet was not liable for the deaths of Stewart and his agents Robert Fraley and Van Arden, who had also been aboard the plane.
, a noted football
coach for North Carolina State
and then Louisiana State University
(where he had been hired only six weeks before) was flying with a pilot from Shreveport, Louisiana
to Baton Rouge on January 10, 1980 in a Cessna 441
Conquest twin-turboprop, registered N442NC. The flight was supposed to last 40 minutes, but after flying east and climbing to avoid a thunderstorm, the plane lost contact with air traffic control, and was seen on radar to climb to 40000 feet (12,192 m).
The Conquest was eventually intercepted by two Michigan Air National Guard
F-4C Phantoms
from Seymour-Johnson AFB
and a pair of F-106 Delta Dart
interceptors from the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Langley AFB aircraft in Virginia
. When intercepted, the Cessna was over a thousand miles off course, and flying at an altitude of 41600 feet (12,679.7 m), 5000 feet (1,524 m) higher than its maximum certified ceiling. The fighter pilots could not see anyone in the cockpit. The plane continued out over the Atlantic Ocean
where it ran out of fuel, descended to 25000 feet (7,620 m) and then entered a spin, crashing into the water. The military pilots spotted some debris, but no wreckage was ever recovered. The bodies of Rein and pilot Lou Benscotter were never found. The most likely reason given was that the two men apparently lost consciousness due to slow depressurization of the cabin. Cessna later settled out of court with Rein's widow for an undisclosed amount.
, N234CM, departed Memphis International Airport
on December 16, 1988, heading for Addison, Texas
with two crew aboard, including NASA astronaut-candidate Susan Reynolds. After it flew past its destination, the aircraft was intercepted by an Air Force T-38 Talon
from the 560th Flying Training Squadron at Randolph AFB
, but the pilot was unable to contact the crew. He reported that the cockpit windows appeared to have frost on the inside. The Lear entered Mexican
airspace. After exhausting its fuel supply, it entered a spin and crashed near Cuatro Ciénegas
in the northern state of Coahuila
. The two pilots were killed.
departed from Perth
, Australia, destined for Leonora
, a mining town 370 miles (600 km) away, carrying seven passengers plus the pilot. After 22 minutes of flight, the aircraft had passed through its assigned altitude. It was at this point that Air Traffic Control
noticed that the pilot's speech had become significantly impaired and he was unable to respond to instructions. Communications continued with the pilot for a further eight minutes before he lapsed into unconsciousness and no sounds of life on board could be heard. The plane continued flying on a constant heading for five hours, covering 1,760 miles (2,840 km), before crashing in northwest Queensland
, at 01:10 am AEST. The accident became known in the Australian media as the "Ghost Flight".
The aircraft was completely destroyed in the impact and the post-crash fire, making the investigation difficult. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau
(ATSB) and coroner
investigating the crash concluded that depressurization was likely the cause of incapacitation, but were unable to conclusively rule out the presence of toxic fumes, possibly from the air conditioning system.
Boeing 737-300 crashed 40 km from Athens after running out of fuel. An investigation later concluded that an improper pressurization setting in the cockpit had caused the cabin pressure to drop, and resulted in the incapacitation of the passengers and crew. It was later determined that one of the flight attendants had used the bottled oxygen supply and his pilot's training to attempt to bring the plane down to a lower altitude, but had been unsuccessful. There were no survivors.
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
to Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. Early in the flight the aircraft, which was cruising at altitude on autopilot, gradually lost cabin pressure. As a result, all on board were incapacitated due to hypoxia
Hypoxia (medical)
Hypoxia, or hypoxiation, is a pathological condition in which the body as a whole or a region of the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. Variations in arterial oxygen concentrations can be part of the normal physiology, for example, during strenuous physical exercise...
— a lack of oxygen. The aircraft failed to make the westward turn toward Dallas over north Florida, and continued flying over the southern and midwestern United States for almost four hours and 1500 miles (2,414 km), until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field near Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen, South Dakota
Aberdeen is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, South Dakota, United States, about 125 mi northeast of Pierre. Settled in 1880, it was incorporated in 1882. The city population was 26,091 at the 2010 census. The American News is the local newspaper...
after an uncontrolled descent. Among the six people on board were golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
star Payne Stewart
Payne Stewart
William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42....
and Bruce Borland
Bruce Borland
Bruce Borland was a golf course designer who worked for Jack Nicklaus. He died in the 1999 South Dakota Learjet crash on October 25, 1999 while traveling with golf Hall of Famer Payne Stewart.-Biography:...
, a highly regarded golf architect with the Jack Nicklaus
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus , nicknamed "The Golden Bear", is an American professional golfer. He won 18 career major championships on the PGA Tour over a span of 25 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional golfers of all time. In addition to his 18 Majors, he was runner-up a...
golf course design company.
Flight chronology
- Note: all times are presented in 24-hour, military format. Because the flight took place in both the Eastern Time zoneNorth American Eastern Time ZoneThe Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
- Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) - and the Central Time zoneCentral Time zoneIn North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
- Central Daylight Time (CDT) - all times are given in this article in Coordinated Universal TimeCoordinated Universal TimeCoordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
(which is indicated by the time followed by the letter Z)
Departure
Jet fuel
Jet fuel is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is clear to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial aviation are Jet A and Jet A-1 which are produced to a standardized international specification...
, enough for 4 hours and 45 minutes of flight. On board were two pilots and four passengers.
At 1327:13Z, the controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
from the Jacksonville
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
ARTCC
Area Control Center
In air traffic control, an Area Control Center , also known as a Center, is a facility responsible for controlling instrument flight rules aircraft en route in a particular volume of airspace at high altitudes between airport approaches and departures...
instructed the pilot to climb and maintain flight level
Flight level
A Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
(FL) 390 (39000 feet (11,887.2 m) above sea level). At 1327:18Z (0927:18 EDT), the pilot acknowledged the clearance by stating, "three nine zero bravo alpha." This was the last known radio transmission from the airplane, and occurred while the aircraft was passing through 23000 feet (7,010.4 m). The next attempt to contact the aircraft occurred six minutes, 20 seconds later (14 minutes after departure), with the aircraft at 36500 feet (11,125.2 m), and the controller's message went unacknowledged. The controller attempted to contact N47BA five more times in the next 4½ minutes, again with no answer.
First interception
About 1454Z (now 0954 CDT due to the flight's crossing into the Central Time zone), a U.S. Air Force F-16F-16 Fighting Falcon
The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...
test pilot
Test pilot
A test pilot is an aviator who flies new and modified aircraft in specific maneuvers, known as flight test techniques or FTTs, allowing the results to be measured and the design to be evaluated....
from the 40th Flight Test Squadron
40th Flight Test Squadron
The 40th Flight Test Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 46th Operations Group, based at Eglin AFB, Florida.-Lineage:...
at Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County....
, Florida, who happened to be in the air nearby, was directed by controllers to intercept N47BA. When the fighter was about 2000 feet (609.6 m) from the Learjet, at an altitude of about 46400 feet (14,142.7 m), the test pilot made two radio calls to N47BA but did not receive a response. The F-16 pilot made a visual inspection of the Lear, finding no visible damage to the airplane. Both engines were running, and the plane's red rotating anti-collision beacon was on (standard operation for aircraft in flight). The fighter pilot could not see inside the passenger section of the airplane because the windows seemed to be dark. Further, he stated that the entire right cockpit windshield was opaque, as if condensation or ice covered the inside. He also indicated that the left cockpit windshield was opaque, although several sections of the center of the windshield seemed to be only thinly covered by condensation or ice; a small rectangular section of the windshield was clear, with only a small section of the glare shield visible through this area. He did not see any flight control movement. About 1512Z, the F-16 pilot concluded his inspection of N47BA and broke formation, proceeding to Scott AFB, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
Second interception
At 1613Z, almost three hours into the flight of the unresponsive Learjet, two F-16s from the OklahomaOklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
Air National Guard
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard , often referred to as the Air Guard, is the air force militia organized by each of the fifty U.S. states, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the territories of Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia of the United States. Established under Title 10 and...
(ANG), flying under the call-sign "TULSA 13 flight", were directed by the Minneapolis ARTCC to intercept. The TULSA 13 lead pilot reported that he could not see any movement in the cockpit, that the windshield was dark and that he could not tell if the windshield was iced. A few minutes later, a TULSA 13 pilot reported, "We're not seeing anything inside, could be just a dark cockpit though...he is not reacting, moving or anything like that he should be able to have seen us by now." At 1639Z, TULSA 13 left to rendezvous with a tanker for refueling
Aerial refueling
Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling , air-to-air refueling or tanking, is the process of transferring fuel from one aircraft to another during flight....
.
The aircraft's altitude varied from 22000 feet (6,705.6 m) to 51000 feet (15,544.8 m).
Third interception and escort
About 1650Z, two North DakotaNorth Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
ANG F-16s with the identification "NODAK 32 flight" were directed to intercept N47BA. TULSA 13 flight also returned from refueling, and all four fighters maneuvered close to the Lear. The TULSA 13 lead pilot reported, "We've got two visuals on it. It's looking like the cockpit window is iced over and there's no displacement in any of the control surfaces as far as the aileron
Aileron
Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...
s or trims." About 1701Z, TULSA 13 flight returned to the tanker again, while NODAK 32 remained with N47BA.
Crash
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
, which was recovered from the wreckage, contained an audio recording of the last 30 minutes of the flight (it was an older model which only recorded 30 minutes of data; the aircraft was not equipped with a flight data recorder
Flight data recorder
A flight data recorder is an electronic device employed to record any instructions sent to any electronic systems on an aircraft. It is a device used to record specific aircraft performance parameters...
). At 1710:41Z, the Learjet's engines can be heard winding down, indicating that the plane's fuel had been exhausted. In addition, sounds of the stick shaker
Stick shaker
A stick shaker is a mechanical device to rapidly and noisily vibrate the control yoke of an aircraft to warn the pilot of an imminent stall...
and autopilot
Autopilot
An autopilot is a mechanical, electrical, or hydraulic system used to guide a vehicle without assistance from a human being. An autopilot can refer specifically to aircraft, self-steering gear for boats, or auto guidance of space craft and missiles...
disconnect can be heard (with the engines powered down, the autopilot would have attempted to maintain altitude, causing the plane's airspeed
Airspeed
Airspeed is the speed of an aircraft relative to the air. Among the common conventions for qualifying airspeed are: indicated airspeed , calibrated airspeed , true airspeed , equivalent airspeed and density airspeed....
to bleed off until it approached stall
Stall (flight)
In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...
speed, at which point the stick shaker would have automatically engaged to warn the pilot and the autopilot would have switched itself off).
At 1711:01Z, the Lear began a right turn and descent. One NODAK 32 airplane remained to the west, while one TULSA 13 airplane broke away from the tanker and followed N47BA down. At 1211:26 CDT, the NODAK 32 lead pilot reported, "The target is descending and he is doing multiple aileron roll
Aileron roll
The Aileron Roll is an aerobatic maneuver in which the aircraft does a full 360° revolution about its longitudinal axis. When executed properly, there is no appreciable change in altitude and the aircraft exits the maneuver on the same heading as it entered...
s, looks like he's out of control...in a severe descent, request an emergency descent to follow target." The TULSA 13 pilot reported, "It's soon to impact the ground; he is in a descending spiral."
Impact occurred approximately 1713Z, or 1213 local, after a total flight time of 3 hours, 54 minutes, with the aircraft hitting the ground at a nearly supersonic speed and an extreme angle. The Learjet crashed just outside of Mina, South Dakota, in Edmunds County
Edmunds County, South Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,367 people, 1,681 households, and 1,210 families residing in the county. The population density was 4 people per square mile . There were 2,022 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile...
on relatively flat ground, and left a crater 42 feet (12.8 m) long, 21 feet (6.4 m) wide and 8 feet (2.4 m) deep. None of its components remained intact.
Crew information
The 42-year-old captain, Michael Kling, held an airline transport pilot certificate and type ratingsPilot certification in the United States
Pilot certification in the United States is required for an individual to act as a pilot of an aircraft. It is regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration , a branch of the Department of Transportation...
for Boeing 707
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
, Boeing 720
Boeing 707
The Boeing 707 is a four-engine narrow-body commercial passenger jet airliner developed by Boeing in the early 1950s. Its name is most commonly pronounced as "Seven Oh Seven". The first airline to operate the 707 was Pan American World Airways, inaugurating the type's first commercial flight on...
, and Learjet 35. He also had Air Force experience flying the KC-135
KC-135 Stratotanker
The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling military aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker...
and E-3 Sentry
E-3 Sentry
The Boeing E-3 Sentry is an airborne warning and control system developed by Boeing as the prime contractor. Derived from the Boeing 707, it provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications, and is used by the United States Air Force , NATO, Royal Air Force , French Air Force...
. He was also an instructor pilot on a Maine Air National Guard
Maine Air National Guard
The Maine Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Maine. It is, along with the Maine Army National Guard, an element of the Maine National Guard...
KC-135E. According to Sunjet Aviation records, the captain had accumulated a total of 4,280 hours of flight time (including his military flight time) and had flown a total of 60 hours with Sunjet, 38 as a Learjet pilot-in-command and 22 as a Learjet second-in-command.
The first officer, Stephanie Bellegarrigue, age 27 at the time of the accident, held a commercial pilot certificate and type ratings for Learjet and Cessna Citation 500. She was also a certified flight instructor. She had accumulated a total of 1,751 hours of flight time, of which 251 hours were with Sunjet Aviation as a second-in-command and 99 as a Learjet second-in-command.
Investigation
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
has several levels of investigation, of which the highest is a "major" investigation. In the last ten years, the NTSB has conducted 35 major investigations of aircraft crashes. Because of the extraordinary circumstances in this crash, a major investigation was performed.
The NTSB determined that:
In addition, the Board concluded that:
The NTSB report showed that the plane had several instances of maintenance work related to cabin pressure in the months leading up to the accident. The NTSB was unable to determine whether they stemmed from a common problem - replacements and repairs were documented, but not the pilot discrepancy reports that prompted them or the frequency of such reports. The report gently chides Sunjet Aviation for the possibility that this would have made the problem harder to identify, track, and resolve; as well as the fact that in at least one instance the plane was flown with an unauthorized maintenance deferral for cabin pressure problems.
Shoot-down speculation
There was some speculation in the media that military jets were prepared to shoot down the Lear if it threatened to crash in a heavily populated area. Officials at the Pentagon strongly denied that possibility. Shooting down the plane "was never an option," Air Force spokesman Captain Joe Della Vedova said. "I don't know where that came from."Aftermath
Stewart was ultimately headed to Houston for the 1999 Tour ChampionshipThe Tour Championship
The Tour Championship was historically the final event of golf's PGA Tour season. Since 2007, it has been the final event of the FedEx Cup, the competition for the first official championship trophy for the PGA Tour season. From 1987 to 1996, several courses hosted the event...
, but planned a stop in Dallas for discussions with the athletic department of his alma mater, Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, about building a new home course for the school's golf program. Stewart was memorialized at the Tour Championship with a lone bagpipe player playing at the first hole at Champions Golf Club
Champions Golf Club
The Champions Golf Club is a golf club located in Houston, Texas. The club was founded in 1957 by Jack Burke, Jr. and Jimmy Demaret. In 1959 the Cypress Creek Course was opened for play, designed by Ralph Plummer. This course has hosted tournaments such as the 1967 Ryder Cup, the 1969 U.S. Open,...
prior to the beginning of the first day of play.
The 2000 U.S. Open
U.S. Open (golf)
The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open golf tournament of the United States. It is the second of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour...
, held at Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links
Pebble Beach Golf Links is a golf course located in Pebble Beach, California, on the west coast of the United States.Pebble Beach is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It hugs the rugged coastline and has wide open views of Carmel Bay, opening to the Pacific Ocean,...
, began with a golf version of a 21-gun salute
21-gun salute
Gun salutes are the firing of cannons or firearms as a military or naval honor.The custom stems from naval tradition, where a warship would fire its cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent, to show that it was disarmed, signifying the lack of hostile intent...
when 21 of Stewart's fellow players simultaneously hit balls into the Pacific Ocean.
In 2001, Stewart was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame
World Golf Hall of Fame
The World Golf Hall of Fame is located at World Golf Village near St. Augustine, Florida, in the United States, and it is unusual among sports halls of fame in that a single site serves both men and women. It is supported by a consortium of 26 golf organizations from all over the world.The Hall of...
.
On June 8, 2005, a Florida state court jury in Orlando found that Learjet was not liable for the deaths of Stewart and his agents Robert Fraley and Van Arden, who had also been aboard the plane.
Similar incidents
While this type of crew incapacitation is extremely rare, it is not unknown. Several similar accidents have occurred and recent incidents are detailed below (those prior to 1980 are not listed here).1980 Bo Rein crash
Robert Edward "Bo" ReinBo Rein
Robert Edward "Bo" Rein was an American football and baseball player and football coach. He was a two-sport athlete at Ohio State University and served as the head football coach at North Carolina State University from 1976 to 1979, compiling a record of 27–18–1...
, a noted football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
coach for North Carolina State
NC State Wolfpack football
The NC State Wolfpack football team represents North Carolina State University in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Wolfpack currently compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference....
and then Louisiana State University
LSU Tigers football
The LSU Tigers football team, also known as the Fighting Tigers or Bayou Bengals, represents Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States in NCAA Division I FBS college football. Current head coach Les Miles has led the team since 2005. Since 1999 when Nick Saban took over as...
(where he had been hired only six weeks before) was flying with a pilot from Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....
to Baton Rouge on January 10, 1980 in a Cessna 441
Cessna 441
-See also:-External links:* *...
Conquest twin-turboprop, registered N442NC. The flight was supposed to last 40 minutes, but after flying east and climbing to avoid a thunderstorm, the plane lost contact with air traffic control, and was seen on radar to climb to 40000 feet (12,192 m).
The Conquest was eventually intercepted by two Michigan Air National Guard
Michigan Air National Guard
The Michigan Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard...
F-4C Phantoms
F-4 Phantom II
The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is a tandem two-seat, twin-engined, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor fighter/fighter-bomber originally developed for the United States Navy by McDonnell Aircraft. It first entered service in 1960 with the U.S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable,...
from Seymour-Johnson AFB
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located to the southeast of Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for Navy test pilot Seymour Johnson, a native of Goldsboro...
and a pair of F-106 Delta Dart
F-106 Delta Dart
The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft for the United States Air Force from the 1960s through the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it has proven to be the last dedicated interceptor in USAF service to date...
interceptors from the 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Langley AFB aircraft in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
. When intercepted, the Cessna was over a thousand miles off course, and flying at an altitude of 41600 feet (12,679.7 m), 5000 feet (1,524 m) higher than its maximum certified ceiling. The fighter pilots could not see anyone in the cockpit. The plane continued out over the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
where it ran out of fuel, descended to 25000 feet (7,620 m) and then entered a spin, crashing into the water. The military pilots spotted some debris, but no wreckage was ever recovered. The bodies of Rein and pilot Lou Benscotter were never found. The most likely reason given was that the two men apparently lost consciousness due to slow depressurization of the cabin. Cessna later settled out of court with Rein's widow for an undisclosed amount.
1988 Mexico Learjet 24 crash
A Lear 24BLearjet 24
|-See also:-References:* Taylor, John W. R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1976–77. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1976. ISBN 0-354-00538-3.-External links:**...
, N234CM, departed Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport
Memphis International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located three miles south of the central business district of Memphis, a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States....
on December 16, 1988, heading for Addison, Texas
Addison, Texas
Addison is a city in Dallas County, Texas . The population was 14,166 at the 2000 census, and 15,737 according to a 2009 estimate. Addison is a northern suburb of Dallas...
with two crew aboard, including NASA astronaut-candidate Susan Reynolds. After it flew past its destination, the aircraft was intercepted by an Air Force T-38 Talon
T-38 Talon
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a twin-engine supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced. The T-38 remains in service as of 2011 in air forces throughout the world....
from the 560th Flying Training Squadron at Randolph AFB
Randolph Air Force Base
Randolph Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located east-northeast of San Antonio, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 902d Mission Support Group, Air Education and Training Command ....
, but the pilot was unable to contact the crew. He reported that the cockpit windows appeared to have frost on the inside. The Lear entered Mexican
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
airspace. After exhausting its fuel supply, it entered a spin and crashed near Cuatro Ciénegas
Cuatro Ciénegas
Cuatro Ciénegas is a city in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila. It stands at , at an average elevation of 740 metres above sea level. The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name....
in the northern state of Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
. The two pilots were killed.
2000 Australia Beechcraft King Air crash
On September 4, 2000 a Beechcraft 200 Super King AirBeechcraft Super King Air
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
departed from Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Australia, destined for Leonora
Leonora, Western Australia
Leonora is a town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, located northeast of the state capital, Perth, and north of the city of Kalgoorlie. At the 2006 census, Leonora had a population of 401, about a third of whom are of Aboriginal descent. The area is extremely arid, with a...
, a mining town 370 miles (600 km) away, carrying seven passengers plus the pilot. After 22 minutes of flight, the aircraft had passed through its assigned altitude. It was at this point that Air Traffic Control
Air traffic control
Air traffic control is a service provided by ground-based controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and in the air. The primary purpose of ATC systems worldwide is to separate aircraft to prevent collisions, to organize and expedite the flow of traffic, and to provide information and other...
noticed that the pilot's speech had become significantly impaired and he was unable to respond to instructions. Communications continued with the pilot for a further eight minutes before he lapsed into unconsciousness and no sounds of life on board could be heard. The plane continued flying on a constant heading for five hours, covering 1,760 miles (2,840 km), before crashing in northwest Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, at 01:10 am AEST. The accident became known in the Australian media as the "Ghost Flight".
The aircraft was completely destroyed in the impact and the post-crash fire, making the investigation difficult. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau
Australian Transport Safety Bureau
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is Australia’s national transport safety investigator. The ATSB is the federal government body responsible for investigating transport-related accidents and incidents within Australia. It covers air, sea and rail travel. The Australian Transport Safety...
(ATSB) and coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...
investigating the crash concluded that depressurization was likely the cause of incapacitation, but were unable to conclusively rule out the presence of toxic fumes, possibly from the air conditioning system.
Helios Airways Flight 522
On 14 August, 2005, a Helios AirwaysHelios Airways
Helios Airways was a low-cost Cypriot airline operating scheduled and charter flights between Cyprus and many European destinations. It has its corporate headquarters on the grounds of Larnaca International Airport in Larnaca. Its main base was Larnaca International Airport...
Boeing 737-300 crashed 40 km from Athens after running out of fuel. An investigation later concluded that an improper pressurization setting in the cockpit had caused the cabin pressure to drop, and resulted in the incapacitation of the passengers and crew. It was later determined that one of the flight attendants had used the bottled oxygen supply and his pilot's training to attempt to bring the plane down to a lower altitude, but had been unsuccessful. There were no survivors.
External links
- NTSB Boardmeeting presentation slide show on the crash
- Listing of NTSB resources on the crash
- Ghost plane's flight to disaster," BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 1999-10-25