Gates Learjet Corp. 35A accident near Prospect Heights, IL
On January 5, 2010, a Gates Learjet Corp. 35A (airplane) was involved in an accident near Prospect Heights, IL. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- January 5, 2010
- Place
- Prospect Heights, IL
- Aircraft
- Gates Learjet Corp. 35A · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 42.089°N, 87.892°W
- NTSB ID
- 20100105X11839
Official records · CEN10MA088
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Radar Data RAX988.exe: Document (GIF), on ntsb.gov
- PWK ATCT Partial Transcript of Voice Recordings: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On January 5, 2010, at 1327 central standard time, a Gates Learjet Corp. 35A, N720RA, operated as Royal Air Freight flight 988 (RAX 988), was destroyed when it impacted water and terrain while maneuvering to final approach to runway 34 at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK), Prospect Heights, Illinois. The captain and first officer sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by Royal Air Freight, Inc., Waterford, Michigan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 positioning flight. The flight departed Oakland County International Airport (PTK), Pontiac, Michigan, at 1235. According to the operator, the accident flight was scheduled to pick up cargo at PWK and then transport the cargo to Georgia. The accident flight was the first flight for the flight crew that day. The flight crew reported for duty about 1200. The airplane departed PTK at 1235, en route to PWK. During the takeoff, climb, and en route portions of the flight, no abnormalities were reported by the crew to air traffic control (ATC) nor were any recorded by the cockpit voice recorder (CVR). Review of the CVR transcript revealed that the recording began at 1300:03 while the airplane was en route. At 1306:28, the first officer reported to Chicago air route traffic control center (ARTCC) that their altitude was at flight level two zero zero (20,000 feet mean sea level). The controller then instructed the flight crew to be at 4,000 feet, 35 miles northeast
Probable cause
A loss of control for undetermined reasons.
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Browse: Illinois · Gates Learjet aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
