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NYC99LA151 · Learjet 60

1 Jul 1999 · Hyannis, MA, United States

Learjet 60 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure on approach

From Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) to Cape Cod Gateway Airport (HYA)

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Event

NTSB case
NYC99LA151
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
General aviation
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Learjet 60

Aircraft type
Learjet 60
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N219FX
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), HERDON, VATo Cape Cod Gateway Airport (HYA), MA
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 91: General Aviation
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
Approach
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Airframe, component or system failure
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Substantial

Cause areas

  • Flightcrew › Checklist, not used
  • Flightcrew › Crew/group coordination, inadequate
  • Pilot in command › In-flight planning/decision, improper

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Hyannis, MA, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

The pilot in command (PIC) and first officer (FO) were on a return flight. While being vectored for the Runway 24 ILS approach, as the flaps were selected to 20 degrees and the landing gear was extended, the crew noted that the left and right amber HYDR PRESS lights began to illuminate. When the lights began to flash with more regularity, the crew discussed whether to continue or divert to another airport. The captain decided to proceed to the destination airport, with a 5,425-foot runway. After touchdown, the captain applied normal braking, but the brakes did not respond. Additionally, the crew attempted to use the reverse thrusters, which also did not respond. The captain then attempted to apply emergency braking, but the emergency brake lever would not move. The captain then requested the FO to apply emergency braking. The captain then declared he was aborting the landing, immediately after which, the FO successfully engaged the emergency brakes. The airplane proceeded off the departure end of the wet runway, struck a localizer antenna, and came to rest in a fence. Examination of the airplane revealed that the left main landing gear actuator extend hose leaked hydraulic fluid and was not torqued to specifications. According to a work item sheet, a corrective action was entered on the sheet on June 14, 'Replaced main gear actuator extend pressure hoses. Replaced uplock main gear hoses with new [Teflon] hoses.' The Airplane Flight Manual (AFM) stated that in the event of a hydraulic pressure loss, 'With no flaps, no spoilers, no thrust reversers, and no anti-skid, the landing distance will be greatly increased.' Multiply the Actual Landing Distance for Anti-Skid ON shown in Section V by a factor of 3.' The calculated landing distance, uncorrected, was 3,690 feet. The factor of three required an 11,000-foot runway. No abnormal or emergency quick reference checklists were found in the cockpit, and there was no mention of abnormal or emergency procedures in the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) transcript. An AFM, which contained an abnormal checklist and procedures section, was found in a side pocket next to the captain. Examination of company personnel files revealed that the captain had been issued an 'Employee Warning Notice,' in August 1998, for failure to follow instructions and rudeness to employees or customers. The notice also stated that numerous FO's reported that the pilot was rude and discourteous when he addressed them, and that he was not promoting good cockpit resource management (CRM). The captain had not received company CRM training. The airplane was part of a fractional ownership program and was operated under 14 CFR Part 91.

Probable cause

The flightcrew's inadequate coordination and their failure to utilize checklists. Also causal was the captain's improper decision to continue the approach to a runway with insufficient length. A factor in the accident was the improper maintenance.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record NYC99LA151
Event ID
20001212X19332
Case number
NYC99LA151
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1999-07-02.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 519b477ee9ef41446aa7c0e8addecf5f5ca963ab396ee3f5afef5f2664fcc939; retrieved 2026-09-22T14:40:54.520Z.