MIA00FA129

The pilot canceled the IFR flight plan as the aircraft crossed the VOR and reported the airport in site. The last radio contact with Air Traffic Control was at 0935:16. The crew did not report any problems before or during the accident flight. The distance from the VOR to the airport was 4 nautical miles. Witnesses saw the airplane enter right traffic at a low altitude, for a landing on runway 36, then turn right from base leg to final, less than a 1/2-mile from the approach end of the runway. Witnesses saw the airplane pitch up nose high, and the right wing dropped. The airplane than struck trees west of the runway, struck wires, caught fire, and impacted on a hard surface road. This was a training flight for the left seat pilot to retake a Learjet type rating check ride he had failed on March 24, 2000. He failed the check ride, because while performing an ILS approach in which he was given a simulated engine failure, and he was transitioning from instruments to VFR, he allowed the airspeed to decrease to a point below Vref [landing approach speed]. According to the company's training manual, "...if a crewmember fails to meet any of the qualification requirements because of a lack in flight proficiency, the crewmember must be returned to training status. After additional or re-training, an instructor recommendation is required for reaccomplishing the unsatisfactory qualification requirements." The accident flight was dispatched by the company as a training flight. On the accident flight a company check airman was in the right seat, and the check ride was set up for 0800, April 5,2000. The flight arrived an hour and a half late. The left seat pilot's, and the company's flight records did not indicate any training flights, or any other type of flights, for the pilot from March 24, 2000, the date of the failed check flight, and the accident flight on April 5, 2000. The accident flight was the first flight that the left seat pilot was to receive retraining, and was the only opportunity for him to demonstrate the phase of flight that he was unsuccessful at during the check flight on March 24th. Examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any discrepancies.

History of flight

On April 5, 2000, at 0937 central daylight time a Learjet 35A, N86BE, operated by Bankair Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 training flight, crashed in the vicinity of Marianna, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an IFR flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The crew of two pilots and one passenger/pilot were fatally injured. The airplane initially departed from Opa Locka, Florida, at 0940 eastern daylight time, on the day of the accident.

The purpose of this flight was for the commercial-rated pilot in the left seat to retake a Learjet type rating check ride he had failed on March 24, 2000. The airline transport-rated pilot in the right seat was a company check airman, and the commercial-rated pilot in the jump seat had no access to the controls.

An employee at Chipola Aviation, where the check was to have been given, stated that, "...he set up an appointment for Bankair Inc. to have a check ride for [0800], April 5, 2000...on that date at approximately [0830] I realized that they had not arrived as yet...[I called] Bankair Inc. and ask[ed] what time their aircraft had left and what time it was expected here...a man (unknown)...said that they were running about an hour and a half late."

When the flight arrived in the Marianna area the pilot canceled the IFR flight plan as the aircraft crossed the Marianna VOR and reported the airport in site. The last radio contact between N86BE and Cairns Army Radar Approach Control (ARAC) was at 0935:16. The crew did not report any problems before or during the accident flight. The distance from the VOR to the airport was 4 nautical miles.

Several witnesses saw the airplane enter right traffic at a low altitude, for a landing on runway 36. The airplane was seen in a right turn from base leg to final, less than a 1/2-mile from the approach end of the runway. Witnesses saw the airplane pitch up nose high, the right wing dropped, and the airplane struck trees right wing low. The trees were located to the left (west) of centerline runway 36. The airplane traveled through the trees, struck wires, caught fire, and came to rest on a hard surface road.

Witnesses in the area stated that they saw the airplane fly past runway 36 centerline, below the tree line west of the runway, and then observed the airplane right wing low, as if it was attempting to realign with the runway, and than impact the trees with the right wing. Other descriptions from witnesses had the airplane low and fast.

The accident occurred during the hours of daylight about 01 degrees, 29 minutes north, and 075 degrees, 32 minutes west.

Personnel information

The pilot-in-command (right seat), age 38, was employed by Bankair in April 1994. He held an airline transport pilot certificate for airplane multi-engine land, type rated in the Learjet, with commercial privileges for airplane single-engine land. He held a flight instructor certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine, multi-engine, and instrument-airplane. He was FAA approved and designated a company check airman on July 15, 1997 for the LR-25B, LR-35A, and the LR-25D. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) first-class medical certificate was issued on March 16, 2000, with no limitations. On January 12, 2000, he satisfied the training and proficiency check ride requirements for pilot-in-command (PIC) in the Mitsubishi MU-2-30, 35, 36, and 60.

According to company records, the PIC had accrued 11,831 flight hours at the time of the accident, of which 4,356 hours were in the Learjet, and 4,137 hours were as PIC in the Learjet. In addition, he recorded 194 hours in the last 90 days, 71 hours in the last 30 days, and 1 hour in the last 24 hours. His last proficiency check on the Learjet was July 7, 1999.

The left seat pilot, age 31, was employed by Bankair in November 1999. He held a commercial pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land, multi-engine land, and instrument-airplane. He held a flight instructor certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine, multi-engine, and instrument-airplane. His most recent FAA first- class medical certificate was issued on September 30, 1999, with no limitations.

According to company records, the left seat pilot had accrued 1,776 flight hours at the time of the accident, of which 343 hours were as second-in-command in the Learjet. In addition, he recorded 48 hours in the last 90 days, 21 hours in the last 30 days, and 1 hour in the last 24 hours.

Training records revealed that the company provided two training flights for a total time of 2.4 hours on March 21 and 22, 2000, in preparation for the pilot's Learjet type-rating check flight on March 24. His last proficiency check was on the Learjet on November 10, 1999.

On March 24, 2000, the left seat pilot, was given a Learjet type rating check flight, that he did not successfully complete. The check pilot at Chipola Aviation, at the request of the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) wrote the following account of the flight. "...I was conducting a Learjet check ride for [the left seat pilot] which was the applicant...the next approach was the ILS in which I gave a single [engine] during the approach in which all was normal until short final when he was transitioning from instrument to VFR. The applicant lowered the full flaps. At this point the airspeed began to decrease to the point of Vref ["Landing approach speed," or the indicated airspeed that the aircraft should be at 50 feet above the landing area in the landing configuration] minus. The airspeed should have been close to Vref plus 20. Acting as copilot I was calling out that the airspeed was low, and that he needed to add power. There was no correction until the airspeed was below Vref...the applicant attempted to correct the airspeed with pitch instead of power, which would have been the correct way. By lowering the nose this set up a high rate of decent. This is very difficult to correct in a Learjet. The aircraft was somewhere less than 300 feet agl. I took the controls, added full power and was able to stop the decent prior to touchdown. At the bottom of the decent I got a slight stick shaker. The applicant reverted back to his single engine days when you used pitch to correct airspeed...at this time I discontinued the flight check...I explained to him and his instructor what he did, why he did this and how to correct it...."

According to Bankair's training manual, page A-8, under Programmed Flight Training Hours-Reduction, the third sentence states, "...if a crewmember fails to meet any of the qualification requirements because of a lack in flight proficiency, the crewmember must be returned to training status. After additional or re-training, an instructor recommendation is required for reaccomplishing the unsatisfactory qualification requirements."

The accident flight was dispatched by Bankair as a training flight. The left seat pilot's, and Bankair's flight records did not indicate any training flights, or any other type of flights, for the pilot from March 24, 2000, the date of the failed check flight, and the accident flight on April 5, 2000.

There was a memo for record in the left seat pilot's records that stated, "...3-24-00 did not successfully complete first attempt at type ride...retraining scheduled...retesting scheduled for 4-4-00." Since the flight from Opa Locka to Marianna was dispatched as a training flight, with the company check pilot in the right seat, this flight was considered the left seat pilot's retraining flight. In addition, the reason the left seat pilot was unsuccessful on the check ride March 24th, was that on short final he used pitch not power to bring the airspeed up to Vref. The flight into Marianna was the first approach that the left seat pilot would have had an opportunity to receive retraining, and the only opp