Business jet that crashed in Michigan was flown after pilots chose not to wait for a test pilot, NTSB says
—
Washington (CNN) — The pilots in a deadly business jet crash in Michigan were performing a test flight themselves, following repairs, instead of waiting for a test pilot, when the aircraft plunged into woods near Lansing, the National Transportation Safety Board said in a preliminary report Thursday.
The Mexican-registered Raytheon Hawker 800XP plane crashed in Bath Township, Michigan on October 16, killing the three people onboard.
Before the crash, the plane had been parked in Battle Creek, Michigan, for maintenance for seven months, according to the NTSB.
Theworkincludedremovingpartofthewing,whichrequirespilotstotestflyitinanaerodynamicstall—amaneuverinwhichtheplaneloseslift—beforeitcouldbereturnedtoservice.
Whenthecrewarrivedtopickuptheplane,thecompanythatdidthemaintenancework,DuncanAviation,suggestedtheyhireatestpilottoperformthestalltest,thereportnoted.
“Thecaptainwasprovidedwithalistofexperiencedtestpilots,forhire,toperformthepost-maintenancestalltestflight,”t
