- Date
- March 30, 1983, 05:14 local (10:14 UTC)
- Place
- Newark, NJ
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N51CAGates Learjet 25
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19830330075779A
- Case key
- 15782
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 acft was on a ngt check courier flt. During arrival, the indicated airspeed was well above the legal limit of 250 ktfor flt below 10,000 ft. rwy 4R was selected for landing after the crew were advised that their original choice (rwy 11)was noise sensitive. They were advised not to descend below 2000 ft until on final apch. The turn to final was completedabout 1 mi from the rwy at an alt of aprx 700 ft. a steep (5 deg) final apch was flown with an estimated 1000 fpm rate of descent. On landing, the acft bounced, banked/turned to the rgt, then it hit the ground, rgt wing 1st & burned. An exam of the wreckage revealed the acft was configured with the gear extended, the flaps down 20 deg & the spoilers retracted. No evidence of a preimpact part failure or malfunction was found. The trim was set for a hvy rgt wing & the fuel sws were set to x-feed fuel. Tox checks showed that both plts had used or been exposed to marijuana & had CO2 in their blood from smoking; use of medication (phenylpropanolamine) by coplt. Evidence of psbl fatigue/stress to both.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N51CA
- Reported as
- Gates Learjet 25
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-30
- Engine
- GE CJ610-6, 2,950 lbs thrust, turbo jet
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Hughes Charter Air
- Registered owner
- Cahtham Corp.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MDW · Chigago, IL
- Destination
- EWR
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- EWR · Newark Intl, runway 4R, 8,600 × 150 ft, asphalt
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
- 26
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 5,100 total · 2,350 in this make and model · 4,500 as pilot in command · 180 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 330° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Observed at
- EWK, 1 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.