Gates Lear Jet 35 N110UN

Summary

On 12 July 2011 at about 17:20 local time, a Gates Lear Jet 35 registered N110UN, operated by Robinson Air Crane, Inc., was involved in an accident near Opa-Locka, Florida, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 July 2011 at 17:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Opa-Locka, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Opa-Locka Executive (OPF)

Coordinates

25.9072, -80.2781

Aircraft

Gates Lear Jet 35

Registration

N110UN

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Robinson Air Crane, Inc.

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Flight Test

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Opa-Locka → Opa-Locka

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA11LA397

Nobody was injured.

The flightcrew’s inadvertent encounter with windshear during landing, which resulted in a loss of control.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

When the pilot made his initial radio contact with the tower air traffic controller, he acknowledged receiving the airport’s latest automatic terminal information service information. As the airplane approached the airport, the controller made several announcements that there was an area of weather about 5 miles in diameter with light-to-moderate precipitation over the airport. The pilot reported that, during the landing, at an altitude of about 30 feet above the runway, the airplane encountered windshear. The airplane started to roll to the left, and the airspeed decreased by 20 knots. As the pilot attempted to regain control of the airplane, the right wingtip contacted the runway surface. A review of high resolution automated surface observation system data from the airport indicated that, 2 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 338 degrees at 4 knots. Subsequently, there was a steady increase in wind velocity to 15 knots 4 minutes after the accident. During this 6 minute period, the wind direction varied between 353 degrees and 011 degrees. Terminal Doppler weather radar data indicated strong convective activity northwest of the airport from 2 minutes before to 10 minutes after the accident with possible micro bursts and diverging winds near the surface from the time of the accident to 5 minutes after the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.