- Date
- November 22, 2004, 06:15 local (11:15 UTC)
- Place
- Houston, TX
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N85VTGulfstream Aerospace G-III
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report November 20, 2006
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- FAA report
- 20041122034939A
- Case key
- 60592
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
the flight crew's failure to adequately monitor and cross check the flight instruments during the approach. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew's failure to select the instrument landing system frequency in a timely manner and to adhere to approved company approach procedures, including the stabilized approach criteria.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-06/06.
On November 22, 2004, about 0615 central standard time, a Gulfstream G-1159A, N85VT, operated by Business Jet Services Ltd., struck a light pole and crashed about 3 miles southwest of William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas, while on an instrument landing system approach to runway 4. The two pilots and the flight attendant were killed, an individual in a vehicle near the airport received minor injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-06/06.On November 22, 2004, about 0615 central standard time, a Gulfstream G-1159A, N85VT, operated by Business Jet Services Ltd., struck a light pole and crashed about 3 miles southwest of William P. Hobby Airport, Houston, Texas, while on an instrument landing system approach to runway 4. The two pilots and the flight attendant were killed, an individual in a vehicle near the airport received minor injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces. The airplane was being operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N85VT
- Reported as
- Gulfstream Aerospace G-III
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 449
- Airframe hours
- 8,565.8
- Engine
- Rolls-Royce 511-8, 11,400 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- The Jet Place, Inc.
- Registered owner
- The Jet Place, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · October 28, 2004 · 28.8 hours before
- Departed
- DAL · Dallas, TX
- Destination
- Houston, TX
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- KHOU · Houston Hobby Airport, runway 4, 7,602 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 67
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- May 1, 2004
- Flight hours
- 19,000 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 15,700 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 62
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- January 1, 2004
- Flight hours
- 19,100 total · 1,700 in this make and model · 17,700 as pilot in command · 83 in the last 90 days · 24 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Dawn
- Wind
- 90° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 0.13 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 100 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 70 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.01 inHg
- Observed at
- KHOU, 4 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.