ATL90LA080 · Learjet 24
Learjet 24 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure en route
From The Ohio State University Airport - Don Scott Field (OSU) to Tampa International Airport (TPA)
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL90LA080
- 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
- Charter & commuter
- 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 24
- Aircraft type
- Learjet 24
- 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
- N100VQ
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From The Ohio State University Airport - Don Scott Field (OSU), Columbus, OHTo Tampa International Airport (TPA), Tampa, FL
- 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 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
- 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
- En route · cruise
- 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
- Flight compartment light(s) › Chafed
- Fuselage, crew compartment › Fire
- Oxygen system › Chafed
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
WHILE CRUISING AT 42,000 FEET, THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO ADUST HIS MAP LIGHT WHEN THE CIRCUIT BREAKER POPPED. WHEN THE COPILOT RESET THE BREAKER A FIRE IGNITED AT THE OXYGEN PANEL. THE BLOWTORCH EFFECT CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE LEFT INTERIOR AT THE PILOT'S STATION. TWO PASSENGERS WERE HOSPITALIZED FOR SMOKE INHALATION. EXAMINATION OF THE DAMAGED AREA DISCLOSED THAT A WIRE FROM THE LIGHT ASSEMBLY ARCED AND CONTACTED AN OXYGEN SUPPLY LINE. FURTHER EXAMINATION ALSO DISCLOSED LOOSE OXYGEN LINES ADJACENT TO THE ARCING. SUBSEQUENT TO THE MISHAP, LEARJET DEVELOPED A PROTECTION KIT TO PREVENT CONTACT BETWEEN THE OXYGEN LINES AND ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS.
Probable cause
ELECTRICAL ARCING WHICH RESULTED FROM A SHORT IN THE PILOT'S MAP LIGHT CIRCUIT; A CHAFTED WIRE CONTACTED THE OXYGEN SUPPLY LINE AT THE OXYGEN CONTROL PANEL IN THE COCKPIT. A FACTOR IN THE ACCIDENT WAS THE INADEQUATE DESIGN OF THE OXYGEN PANEL PLUMBING AND ELECTRICAL WIRING FOR THE PILOT'S MAP LIGHT WHICH ALLOWED CONTACT BETWEEN THE TWO SYSTEMS.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL90LA080
- Event ID
- 20001212X22669
- Case number
- ATL90LA080
- 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 1990-03-16.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 551d2f76766d38cec507297df5d1d82cde0294db5eb144779527a1fbcb625ede; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:03:52.229Z.