- Date
- December 8, 2014, 10:41 local (15:41 UTC)
- Place
- Gaithersburg, MD
- Injuries
- 6 fatal; on the ground: 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N100EQEmbraer EMB-500
- Defining event
- Approach-IFR final approach: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2016
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Parties
- Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Aeronautical Accidents Investigation and Preventio, Federal Aviaton Administration
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20141208024529A
- Case key
- 90473
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 pilot's conduct of an approach in structural icing conditions without turning on the airplane's wing and horizontal stabilizer deice system, leading to ice accumulation on those surfaces, and without using the appropriate landing performance speeds for the weather conditions and airplane weight, as indicated in the airplane's standard operating procedures, which together resulted in an aerodynamic stall at an altitude at which a recovery was not possible.
Findings · 6
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
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-16/01. On December 8, 2014, about 1041 eastern standard time, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane (marketed as the Phenom 100), N100EQ, registered to and operated by Sage Aviation LLC, crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Factual narrative
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-16/01. On December 8, 2014, about 1041 eastern standard time, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane (marketed as the Phenom 100), N100EQ, registered to and operated by Sage Aviation LLC, crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N100EQ
- Reported as
- Embraer EMB-500
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 50000082
- Built
- 2009
- Airframe hours
- 633.8
- Engines
- P&W Canada PW617F-E, turbo jetP&W Canada PW617F-E, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Sage Aviation LLC
- Registered owner
- Sage Aviation LLC
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · November 14, 2014
- Departed
- IGX · Chapel Hill, NC
- Destination
- GAI · Gaithersburg, MD
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- GAI · Montgomery County Airpark, runway 14, 4,202 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Stall warning system, Data recorder
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 66
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 28, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 4,736.5 total · 135.8 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.61 inHg
- Observed at
- GAI
Docket · 39
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 20, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 93.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.