Phoenix Sky Harbor Intl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Phoenix, Arizona 85034
Thursday, November 13, 2003 6:47 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane taxied behind a Bombardier CL-600 that was conducting a maintenance engine run-up and was blown up on its left wing and sustained substantial damage. The cargo ramp area where the accident occurred is considered a nonmovement area, and therefore, not under the control of the control tower. There are no signs concerning jet blast in the accident area. The CL-600 was parked in a designated spot with the tail facing a blast fence. According to the pilot's statement, while his airplane was being loaded with cargo he noted CL-600 with its "tail light on" and heard it doing a run-up. He received a clearance from the ground controller to taxi from the south cargo area to runway 25L via taxiway H to H7. The pilot said that after getting his taxi clearance he looked and it appeared that the CL-600's run-up had been completed and the engines seemed to be at idle. As he taxied behind the CL-600 following a taxi line between the CL-600 and the blast fence he felt his airplane buffet, and heard the engines spool up. The pilot stated that he did not see the red beacon light blinking on the CL-600 prior to crossing behind it. According to the maintenance crew in the CL-600, they contacted PHX South Ground from the Cutter ramp and requested permission to relocate to the south cargo ramp for maintenance engine runs. After proceeding to the south cargo ramp, they had to wait for outbound traffic to park. The maintenance crew stated that they parked in a designated parking spot in front of the blast fence. One mechanic reported that per the normal engine run procedures the position/navigation and beacon lights were on. Prior to performing the power assurance engine run they verified that there were no aircraft, equipment, or personnel within "the danger zone of our engine run up." About 3 to 5 minutes into the run-up, at high power, they were signaled to shutdown their engines and saw the damaged airplane behind them. Three witnesses at the southwest corner of the cargo area, near the United Postal Service (UPS) area, reported that the CL-600 had been doing a run-up for 3 to 5 minutes prior to the Cessna 208 taxiing behind it. These witnesses all reported that they did not observe a flashing beacon light on CL-600. Witnesses at the FedEx maintenance office observed the CL-600 conducting an engine run at high power with the rotating beacon lights on. Review of the ATC tapes disclosed that the CL-600 had been cleared to relocate to the south cargo ramp for engine test runs and that the Cessna 208 had been given a taxi clearance from the ramp without mention of the CL-600 performing engine run-ups on the ramp.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's improper decision to taxi behind another airplane conducting an engine run-up, which resulted in a jet blast encounter.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/13/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 647
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Phoenix
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85034
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 332605N
Event Location Longitude 1120048W
Event Location Airport PHOENIX SKY HARBOR INTL
Event Location Nearest Airport ID PHX
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 556 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 0
Weather Observation Facility ID PHX
Elevation of weather observation facility 1135
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 6000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 4500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 14
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 280
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.06
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19541
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Nov 13 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 620
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2006 11:00AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-PHX-CMO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N717BT
NTSB Number LAX04LA043
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 208B
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 208B0863
Certified Max Gross Weight 8750
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Oct 1 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 20
Airframe Hours 2349.8
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Tarene Leasing LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 2711 Centerville Rd. STE 400
Aircraft Owner City Wilmington
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19808
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name Baltimore Air Transport, Inc./CorpJet
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 7509 General Aviation Drive
Operator City Fort Meade
Operator State MD
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 20755
Operator Code B7LA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Cargo
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code PHX
Departure City PHOENIX
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 647
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code SOW
Destination City Showlow
Destination State AZ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi - to takeoff
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 7 2006 4:11PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --