Pilot Debrief

LEARJET INC 45 near Batesville, AR — 2022-11-30

Final reportCEN23LA056
Sign in to save
Date
2022-11-30
Location
Batesville, AR, USA
Airport
BVX
Aircraft
LEARJET INC 45
Registration
N988MC
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The crew’s failure to execute a go-around during the unstable approach and long landing, which resulted in a runway excursion.

NTSB narrative

The two pilots were conducting a business flight with six passengers when the accident occurred. During the night arrival the captain flew a visual approach with excessive airspeed and the airplane crossed the runway threshold more than 50 knots above approach speed (Vref). The before-landing checklist was not completed, and the flaps were at an incorrect 20° position instead of 40°. The airplane touched down near the midfield point of the 6,022 ft non-grooved runway, which was wet due to earlier precipitation. The captain initially applied intermittent braking, then applied continuous braking starting about 2,069 ft from the end of the runway. The captain did not deploy the thrust reversers. The airplane exited the runway above 100 knots groundspeed, then continued into a ditch and airport perimeter fence, which resulted in substantial damage to the forward fuselage. Examination of the airplane revealed no mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The operator’s flight manual directed that all approaches were to be flown using the stabilized approach concept. For a visual approach, this included establishing and maintaining the proper approach speed and correct landing configuration at least 500 ft above the airport elevation. Neither pilot recognized the requirement to execute a go-around due to the excessive approach speed or the long landing on a wet runway, which resulted in the runway excursion.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Controlled flight into terrain
First missed decision gate
The crew should have executed a go-around due to high and fast approach.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • CVR
  • Video
  • FDR / data
  • ADS-B / radar
  • 19 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents19

Related mishaps