Learjet 35A accident near San Diego, CA

On October 24, 2004, a Learjet 35A (airplane) was involved in an accident near San Diego, CA. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.

Date

October 24, 2004

Place

San Diego, CA

Aircraft

Learjet 35A · Airplane

Injuries

5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor

Damage

Destroyed

Position

32.569°N, 116.844°W

NTSB ID

20041103X01748

Official records · LAX05FA015

• Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation

Air traffic control records

• ATC 3 - Factual Report of Group Chairman: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC 3 - Attachment 1 - Personnel Interviews: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC 3 - Attachment 2 - ATC Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC 3 - Attachment 4 - FAA Form 7230-4 Daily Record of Facility Operation: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
• ATC 3 - Attachment 5 - FAA Form 8020-6 Report of Aircraft Accident: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov

NTSB summary

The Safety Board adopted the final report of this accident investigation, including the analysis and probable cause, on May 23, 2006. The Board's full report is available on: http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/2006/AAB0605.pdf. The following is the FACTUAL portion of the report. HISTORY OF FLIGHT On October 24, 2004, about 0025 Pacific daylight time, [1] a Learjet 35A, N30DK, registered to and operated by Med Flight Air Ambulance, Inc. (MFAA), crashed into mountainous terrain shortly after takeoff from Brown Field Municipal Airport (SDM), near San Diego, California. The captain, the copilot, and the three medical crewmembers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The repositioning flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 with an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan filed. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The accident flight was the fourth and final leg of a trip that originated the previous day. ATI Jet, Inc. (ATIJ), dispatched the airplane, the two flight crewmembers, and two of the medical crewmembers from Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ), Albuquerque, New Mexico, about 1500 on October 23, 2004, for a repositioning flight to pick up another medical crewmember and a transport flight to pick up a medical patient in Mexico. According to MFAA personnel, repositioning flights were conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 rules, and medical patient transport flights were operated under Part 135. On the flight's first leg, the airplane departed ABQ about 1520 and landed at El Paso International Airport (ELP), El

Probable cause

The failure of the flight crew to maintain terrain clearance during a VFR departure, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain, and the air traffic controller's issuance of a clearance that transferred the responsibility for terrain clearance from the flight crew to the controller, failure to provide terrain clearance instructions to the flight crew, and failure to advise the flight crew of

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Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.