Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wallops Flight Facility Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Wallops Island, Virginia 23337
Tuesady, October 27, 1998 14:56 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The Learjet was participating in water ingestion tests, which required multiple landing rolls through a diked pool on the runway. On one of the landing rolls, the airplane's left main landing gear and nose landing gear tracked through the pool, while the right main landing gear tracked outside the pool. The airplane veered to the left, departed the left side of the runway, and struck a pickup truck parked adjacent to the runway. The airplane came to rest inverted and on fire. Formal hazard identification and risk management procedures were not employed and no alignment cues were in place on the runway to facilitate pool entry alignment. Further, the accident truck, other vehicles, heavy equipment, and personnel were placed hundreds of feet inside the FAA recommended runway-safe and object-free areas during the test.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to obtain/maintain alignment with the water pool, which resulted in the loss of control. Factors in the accident were the inadequate preflight planning of the flight test facility and the airplane manufacturer which resulted in hazards in the test area and the subsequent collision of the airplane with a vehicle.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/27/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1456 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | WALLOPS ISLAND |
| Event State | VIRGINIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 23337 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | WALLOPS FLIGHT FACILITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WAL |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 41 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WAL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 41 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1800 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 70 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1974 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 27 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1700 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2001 5:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N454LJ |
| NTSB Number | IAD99FA008 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Learjet |
| Aircraft Model | 45 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 45 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 45-004 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 20200 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 12 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 5 |
| Airframe Hours | 339 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | LEARJET, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | ONE LEARJET WAY |
| Aircraft Owner City | WICHITA |
| Aircraft Owner State | KS |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 67209 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | WAL |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1152 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 14 2001 5:21AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 8750 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |