The State (Columbia, SC): FAA -- If Jet’s Tire Fails, Take Off (Slack & Davis' Ladd Sanger comments)
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Slack & Davis' Ladd Sanger offers comments in the article below about the crash of a Learjet 60 carrying rock drummer Travis Barker, DJ Adam Goldstein and Barker’s two assistants.
FAA: If jet’s tire fails, take off
Tuesday, Sepember 23, 2008
By Rick Brundrett
The State (Columbia, South Carolina)
Questions surround cause of Learjet crash
Federal guidelines for pilots of the type of plane involved in Friday’s fatal crash at Columbia Metropolitan Airport recommend against aborting takeoffs at high speeds with a blown tire.
And a Dallas pilot-attorney who handled a 2001 crash involving the identical Learjet model questions whether the type of equipment failure that occurred in 2001 played a role in the latest incident.
The flight crew of the Learjet 60 carrying rock drummer Travis Barker, DJ Adam Goldstein and Barker’s two assistants reported hearing what they thought was a tire blowout moments before they told controllers the jet was running off the runway, federal authorities said Sunday.
The crash killed the assistants, pilot Sarah Lemmon and co-pilot James Bland.
Barker and Goldstein survived.
Investigators began removing the wreckage of the jet Monday.
The report of the suspected tire blowout came as the jet reached 92 mph, authorities said. Investigators found the first pieces of a tire 2,800 feet from the start of the 8,602-foot runway. Investigators have not said exactly how many tires may have blown.
It is unclear why the plane couldn’t have stopped in the remaining approximately 5,800 feet.
A Federal Aviation Administration advisory addresses what pilots should do in the case of a tire blowout.
“If a tire failure is suspected at fairly low speeds, it should be treated the same as any other rejected failure and the takeoff should be rejected promptly,” says a training advisory applicable to Lemmon, Bland and other pilots with a “transport” certificate.
However, “rejecting a takeoff from high speeds with a failed tire is a much riskier proposition,” the advisory continues. “The chances of an overrun are increased simply due to the loss of braking force from one wheel. ... In this case, it is generally better to continue the takeoff.”
The advisory said it is easier to take off and land later with a blown tire mainly because “the entire runway will be available for the stop maneuver.”
National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Debbie Hersman described Friday’s crash as a “high-speed overrun.”
Ladd Sanger, a pilot and aviation attorney in Dallas, told The State on Monday that, based on what he read about Friday’s crash and Learjet manual specifications, Lemmon and Bland should have been able to safely stop their plane at the “halfway point on the runway.”
The fact that they didn’t, he explained, leads him to one of two possible theories: They either waited too long to try to abort the takeoff — or they tried earlier to stop the plane but couldn’t because of an equipment problem.
Sanger represented a pilot and co-pilot who were seriously injured in a Learjet 60 crash Jan. 14, 2001, at the Troy Municipal Airport in Troy, Ala.
The plane, owned by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, which had a Cowboys football helmet painted on its tail, struck two deer on the runway upon touchdown, slid off the end of the 5,010-foot runway, struck a ditch and burst into flames.
The plane had been sent to pick up Jones’ son, who was a Cowboys vice president, and two other members of the organization who were in Alabama on business.
“When I look at this photograph (of Friday’s crash site), it’s very similar to the Dallas Cowboys crash,” he said.
The final NTSB report for the Alabama crash listed the probable cause as the collision with the deer. It noted the collision resulted in the loss of a “squat switch” on one of the landing gears, which caused the engines’ thrust reversers, which slow down a plane not to work.
Sanger said a blown tire in Friday’s crash could have had the same result.
“They’re blasting down the runway,” he said. “There’s no way you can stop the airplane.”
On top of that, he added, pilots who are certified to fly the Learjet 60 are commonly instructed that the braking system on that jet isn’t as good as on comparable planes.
Sanger noted that Bombardier Aerospace, manufacturer of the Learjet 60, reached an out-of-court settlement with his clients in the 2001 crash.
What caused the apparent tire blowout in Friday’s crash is unknown.
Greg Feith of Denver, an aviation safety consultant and former senior NTSB investigator, told The State on Saturday there are “1,000 different things that could cause the tire failure,” such as debris on the runway, worn tires or tires inflated with air instead of nitrogen.
Workers inspected the runway for debris at 9 a.m. Friday, airport deputy director Chuck Henderson said Monday. Their report shows they found nothing, he said. “It was just a clean inspection sheet.”
He said the next inspection, which entails driving all runways, taxiways and the tarmac, was to have been done about an hour after the 11:53 p.m. crash.
Federal airport regulations require twice-a-day debris inspections, he said. At Columbia’s airport, each inspection takes about 90 minutes.
Staff Writer Clif LeBlanc contributed.
AIRPORT DEATHS
Fatal air accidents at Columbia Metropolitan Airport since 1961. (Doesn’t include planes that took off from or were bound to the airport but crashed elsewhere.)
Sept. 20, 2008: Learjet 60, crashed on takeoff, four dead
Jan. 4, 2007: Cessna 182P crashed on approach, three dead
Sept. 27, 1995: Piper PA-44-180 crashed on approach, two dead
June 7, 1994: Mooney M20C crashed on approach, one dead
Nov. 25, 1992: Beech 58 crashed on approach, one dead
May 25, 1988: Cessna 402B crashed on takeoff, one dead
Dec. 20, 1973: Beech C90, crashed on approach, two dead
Feb. 26, 1971: Volpar E 18S, crashed on approach, eight dead
Feb. 3, 1971: Aero Commander 520, crashed on approach, six dead
May 17, 1968: Piper PA-17, crashed on approach, one dead
SOURCE: National Transportation Safety Board
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