Jan 3, 2022
214 San Diego Learjet Crash – Interview with Rob Mark
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Summary
214 Max talks with Rob Mark about the San Diego Learjet Crash in El
Cajon, and early clues that this landing wouldn’t succeed. The air
ambulance flight crashed in poor weather, after canceling IFR, as
required at night to land on a longer runway. A poorly flown
traffic pattern at low altitude sealed their fate. Max and Rob
asked pilots to think about when they would have diverted, if they
were flying.
N880Z, a Learjet 35A, crashed while landing at night at Gillespie
Field in El Cajon, north of San Diego. The crash was where the base
intersects the final, which is a classic location for stall/spin
accidents. The aircraft flew a traffic pattern that was lower and
farther east than usual, and they were headed straight for
Rattlesnake Mountain, which was a couple hundred feet higher than
the aircraft. The aircraft crashed about 0.1 miles from the base of
the mountain on Pepper Drive. There were no survivors.
The air ambulance flight originated from John Wayne Airport,
which was a short, 18-minute flight to Gillespie. The weather at
the time was at VFR minimums and IFR minimums for circling. The
weather was 3 mile visibility with mist and a broken layer of
clouds at 2,000 feet and an overcast layer at 2,600 feet.
The two-pilot crew flew the RNAV (GPS) 17 approach, which has LP
minimums of 1,360 feet, for a straight in landing to runway 17.
However runway 17 is more than a 1,000 feet shorter than runway
27R, and when the aircraft was approximately 3 miles north of the
airport, they cancelled IFR and requested to land on runway 27R.
Circling to runway 27R is not permitted at night when flying IFR,
which is why the crew cancelled IFR, so that there were legally
permitted to land on 27R.
The aircraft crossed overhead the airport very low at 725 feet, less than 350 feet above the field elevation of 388 feet. The aircraft then climbed to 950 feet in a left traffic pattern to 27R. The aircraft flew a traffic pattern that was farther north and east than their prior circles to runway 27R. This resulted in them flying directly toward Rattlesnake Mountain.
Mentioned in the Show
Rob Mark’s JetWhine.com
blog
Ep. 199 - IFR Circling Approach Hazards &
Tips for Flying Them
ICAO: Circling 25 times more risky that straight-in with
glideslope
Ep. 114 - Get-There-itis Accidents, Red
Flags, and Tips for Avoiding Them
PAVE
Personal minimums checklist
FAA’s
Personal and Weather Risk Assessment Guide
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