Bornhofen Twinjet 1500 accident near Melbourne, FL
On January 24, 2003, a Bornhofen Twinjet 1500 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Melbourne, FL. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- January 24, 2003
- Place
- Melbourne, FL
- Aircraft
- Bornhofen Twinjet 1500 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 28.102°N, 80.645°W
- NTSB ID
- 20030129X00124
Official records · MIA03LA045
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
On January 24, 2003, about 1700 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Bornhofen Twinjet 1500, N750TJ, operated by Maverick Air Inc. as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 test flight impacted with trees at the Melbourne Airport, Melbourne Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. No flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed. The airline transport-rated pilot received fatal injures. The flight had originated from the same airport, at 1650. According to the FAA inspector's statement, the pilot reported a problem with the landing gear after takeoff. According to tower personnel, the pilot asked if they could check the position of the landing gear. On the first pass the gear was partially extended, on the second pass the gear appeared to be fully retracted. The pilot informed the tower that he would make an intentional gear-up landing on the grass between the taxiway and runway 9L, on the north side of the airport. The two previous passes had been down runway 9R. On the approach turning from base leg to final to runway 9L, the airplane overshot the intended point of landing wide to the right, and the pilot initiated a go around again. The airplane was observed at an altitude below the height of the control tower. At one point the tower controller suggested that the aircraft "pull up" because he thought he was going to hit the VOR located at the east end of the field between the two runways. All the witnesses that were interviewed agreed that the aircraft was never higher than 200 to 300 feet above the ground and more like "tree top level." Most of the time
Probable cause
the pilot-in-command failed to obtain sufficient altitude to clear obstacles at the approach end of the airport which resulted in an in-flight collision with trees.
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Browse: Florida
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
