- Date
- July 18, 1989, 02:30 local (07:30 UTC)
- Place
- Des Moines, IA
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N701ASGates Learjet Learjet 35
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890718026449A
- Case key
- 34832
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain directional control and runway alignment during the landing. Factors related to the accident were: adverse weather/runway/terrain conditions, failure of the local controller to warn the pilot of possible hydroplaning conditions, the pilot's decision not to use reverse thrust, and runway light abutments.
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 PIC rprtd that during an IFR arrival to the Des Moines intl arpt, he detected what seemed to be microbursts & elected to make a missed apch. During a 2nd apch (ILS rwy 30R apch), wx conditions were better & tower psnl rprtd only light rain & winds, so he continued for a landing. The apch & touchdown were normal & reverse thrust was not used. However, the plt rprtd that when he applied brakes, he realized the acft was hyroplaning. Soon thereafter, it angled off the right side of the rwy, though it was being steered to the left. The acft then enctrd soft mud, hit 2 landing light abutments & was damaged. The rwy was rprtd to slope downward toward the midpoint. The plt stated that a few hrs later, water was still standing in low points on the rwy, though rain had stopped falling. Also, he stated the local controller had not warned him of possible hydroplaning though at least 2 inches of rain had fallen in a short period before the plane had landed. The 0244 CDT wind was rprtd to be from 200 deg at 9 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N701AS
- Reported as
- Gates Learjet Learjet 35
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 047
- Airframe hours
- 7,364
- Engine
- Garrett TFE-731-2-2B, 3,500 lbs thrust, turbo fan
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- New Creations, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · June 4, 1989 · 175 hours before
- Departed
- DEN · Denver, CO
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- DSM · Des Moines Intl, runway 30R, 9,001 × 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
- 30
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,554 total · 2,334 in this make and model · 5,471 as pilot in command · 270 in the last 90 days · 89 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 200° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 1 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,400 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- DSM, 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.