N452DA

Destroyed
Fatal

LEARJET 35AS/N: 35A-452

Accident Details

Date
Monday, May 15, 2017
NTSB Number
CEN17MA183
Location
Teterboro, NJ
Event ID
20170515X80533
Coordinates
40.829444, -74.060279
Aircraft Damage
Destroyed
Highest Injury
Fatal
Fatalities
2
Serious Injuries
0
Minor Injuries
0
Uninjured
0
Total Aboard
2

Probable Cause and Findings

The pilot-in-command's (PIC) attempt to salvage an unstabilized visual approach, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the PIC's decision to allow an unapproved second-in-command to act as pilot flying, the PIC's inadequate and incomplete preflight planning, and the flight crew's lack of an approach briefing. Also contributing to the accident were Trans-Pacific Jets' lack of safety programs that would have enabled the company to identify and correct patterns of poor performance and procedural noncompliance and the Federal Aviation Administration's ineffective Safety Assurance System procedures, which failed to identify these company oversight deficiencies.

Aircraft Information

Registration
N452DA
Make
LEARJET
Serial Number
35A-452
Engine Type
Turbo-jet
Year Built
1981
Model / ICAO
35ALJ35
Aircraft Type
Fixed Wing Multi Engine
No. of Engines
2

Registered Owner (Historical)

Name
A&C BIG SKY AVIATION LLC
Address
1812 66TH ST W
Status
Deregistered
City
BILLINGS
State / Zip Code
MT 59106-1651
Country
United States

Analysis

The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-19/02.

On May 15, 2017, about 1529 eastern daylight time, a Learjet 35A, N452DA, departed controlled flight while on a circling approach to runway 1 at Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, and impacted a commercial building and parking lot. The pilot-in-command and the second-in-command died; no one on the ground was injured. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to A&C Big Sky Aviation, LLC, and was operated by Trans-Pacific Air Charter, LLC, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a positioning flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The flight departed from Philadelphia International Airport, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1504 and was destined for TEB.

Data Source

Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# CEN17MA183