DCA05MA003

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-07/01.

On October 14, 2004, about 2215:06 central daylight time, Pinnacle Airlines flight 3701 (doing business as Northwest Airlink), a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, crashed into a residential area about 2.5 miles south of Jefferson City Memorial Airport (JEF), Jefferson City, Missouri. The airplane was on a repositioning flight from Little Rock National Airport, Little Rock, Arkansas, to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the flight, both engines flamed out after a pilot-induced aerodynamic stall and were unable to be restarted. The captain and the first officer were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. No one on the ground was injured. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-07/01.

On October 14, 2004, about 2215:06 central daylight time, Pinnacle Airlines flight 3701 (doing business as Northwest Airlink), a Bombardier CL-600-2B19, N8396A, crashed into a residential area about 2.5 miles south of Jefferson City Memorial Airport (JEF), Jefferson City, Missouri. The airplane was on a repositioning flight from Little Rock National Airport (LIT), Little Rock, Arkansas, to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Minneapolis, Minnesota. During the flight, both engines flamed out after a pilot-induced aerodynamic stall and were unable to be restarted. The captain and the first officer were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. No one on the ground was injured. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

Flight 3701 departed LIT about 2121. The flight plan indicated that the company-planned cruise altitude was 33,000 feet. About 5 seconds after takeoff, when the airplane was at an altitude of about 450 feet mean sea level (msl) (about 190 feet above ground level), the first of three separate pitch-up maneuvers during the ascent occurred when the flight crew moved the control column to 8º airplane nose up (ANU), causing the airplane's pitch angle to increase to 22º and resulting in a vertical load of 1.8 Gs. The rate of climb during this pitch-up maneuver was 3,000 feet per minute (fpm). Immediately afterward, the flight data recorder (FDR) recorded stick shaker and stick pusher activations, a full airplane-nose-down (AND) control column deflection, a decrease in pitch angle, and a drop in vertical load to 0.6 G.

About 2125:55, when the airplane was at an altitude of about 14,000 feet, the flight crew engaged the autopilot. The air traffic control (ATC) transcript and FDR data showed that the flight crewmembers changed seats in the cockpit during this time, but the ATC transcript did not indicate the reason for the seat change. About 2127:15, when the airplane was at an altitude of about 15,000 feet, the flight crew disengaged the autopilot.

About 2127:17, when the airplane was in level flight at an altitude of 15,000 feet, the second pitch-up maneuver began when the flight crew moved the control column to 3.8º ANU, causing the airplane's pitch angle to increase to 17º and resulting in a vertical load of 2.3 Gs. The rate of climb during this pitch-up maneuver reached 10,000 fpm briefly. Between about 2128:40 and about 2128:43, the flight crew made a left rudder input of 4.2º, a right rudder input of 6.0º, and a left rudder input of 0.4º, resulting in lateral loads of -0.16 G, 0.34 G, and -0.18 G, respectively. About 17 seconds later, the flight crew made a right rudder input of 7.7º. About 2132:40, when the airplane was in level flight at an altitude of 24,600 feet, the third pitch-up maneuver began when the flight crew moved the control column to 4º ANU, which increased the airplane's pitch angle to more than 10º and resulted in a vertical load of 1.87 Gs. The rate of climb during this pitch-up maneuver reached 9,000 fpm briefly.

The ATC transcript showed that the captain requested a climb to 41,000 feet, which is the Canadair regional jet (CRJ) maximum operating altitude, about 2135:36 and received clearance to climb to that altitude about 2136:13. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) recording began about 2144:44 with the captain and the first officer discussing the climb to 41,000 feet. About 2148:44, the first officer stated, "man we can do it. Forty one it." About 2151:51, the first officer stated, "there's four one oh my man." About 2152:04, the CVR recorded the first officer laughing as he stated, "this is great." FDR data showed that, about 2152:08, the airplane was in level flight at 41,000 feet. FDR data also showed that the airplane climbed from 37,000 to 41,000 feet at an airspeed that decreased from 203 knots/0.63 Mach at the start of the climb to 163 knots/0.57 Mach as the airplane leveled off. The FDR data further showed that the autopilot vertical speed mode was engaged during the climb with a commanded vertical speed of 500 fpm and that the airplane's angle of attack (AOA) at 41,000 feet was initially 5.7º.

About 2152:22, the CVR recorded the captain asking the first officer whether he wanted something to drink and then the first officer responding that he wanted a soda. CVR evidence indicated that the captain left his seat shortly afterward to get the drink.

About 2153:28, the CVR recorded the captain stating, "look how high we are." About 2153:42, a controller at the Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) asked the pilots whether they were flying a CRJ-200. The captain confirmed this information, and the controller stated, "I've never seen you guys up at forty one there." About 2153:51, the captain replied, "we don't have any passengers on board so we decided to have a little fun and come on up here." About 2153:59, the captain added, "this is actually our service ceiling."

About 2154:07, the captain told the first officer, "we're losing here. We're gonna be coming down in a second here." About 3 seconds later, the captain stated, "this thing ain't gonna hold altitude. Is it?" The first officer responded, "it can't man. We (cruised/greased) up here but it won't stay." About 2154:19, the captain stated, "yeah that's funny we got up here it won't stay up here." About 2154:32, the captain contacted the controller and stated, "it looks like we're not even going to be able to stay up here look for maybe three nine oh or three seven." About 2154:36, the FDR recorded the activation of the stick shaker. FDR data showed that, at that point, the airplane's airspeed had decreased to 150 knots, and its AOA was about 7.5º.

The FDR recorded activations of the stick shaker and the stick pusher three times between 2154:45 and 2154:54. FDR data showed that, after the second activation of the stick shaker and stick pusher, the No. 1 (left) and No. 2 (right) engines' N1 (fan speed) and fuel flow indications began decreasing. FDR data also showed that, at the time of the second stick pusher activation, the airplane's AOA had increased to 12º and that, after the stick pusher activated for the third time, the pitch angle decreased from 7º to -20º.

About 2154:57, the FDR recorded the fifth activation of the stick shaker and the fourth activation of the stick pusher. Even with the stick pusher's activation, the motion of the airplane continued to increase its AOA to the maximum measurable value of 27º. The pitch angle increased to 29º, and the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall. Afterward, a left rolling motion began, which eventually reached 82º left wing down, the airplane's pitch angle decreased to -32º, and both engines flamed out. About 2155:06, the captain stated to the controller, "declaring emergency. Stand by." FDR data showed that, during the next 14 seconds, the flight crew made several control column, control wheel, and rudder inputs and recovered the airplane from the upset at an altitude of 34,000 feet. During the recovery, the CVR recorded a sound similar to decreasing engine rpm, and FDR data showed that the No. 1 and No. 2 engines' N1 indications continued to decrease and that the engines' fuel flow indications were at zero.

About 2155:14, the controller told the pilots to descend and maintain an altitude of 24,000 feet; about 5 seconds later, the captain acknowledged the assigned altitude. About 2155:20, the FDR stopped recording because normal a.c. power to the airplane was lost. (The CVR had a different source of power and continued to record.) The last reliable N2 (core speed) recorded by the FDR before it stoppe