ATL83FA025 · Gates Learjet 25
Duncan Aviation Gates Learjet 25 and Duncan Aviation Gates Learjet 24D · Accident: midair collision en route
Event
- NTSB case
- ATL83FA025
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
Aircraft 1 · Gates Learjet 25
- Aircraft type
- Learjet 25
- 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
- N47MJ
- Operator
- Duncan Aviation
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Elizabeth City Regional Airport & Coast Guard Air Station (ECG), Elizabeth City, NCTo Elizabeth City Regional Airport & Coast Guard Air Station (ECG), Elizabeth City, NC
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Midair collision
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Minor
Aircraft 2 · Gates Learjet 24D
- 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
- N13MJ
- Operator
- Duncan Aviation
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Elizabeth City Regional Airport & Coast Guard Air Station (ECG), Elizabeth City, NCTo Elizabeth City Regional Airport & Coast Guard Air Station (ECG), Elizabeth City, NC
- 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
- Unknown
- 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
- Midair collision
- 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 control, elevator › Jammed
- Horizontal stabilizer surface › Distorted
- Pilot in command › Aircraft handling, improper
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot of other aircraft › Aircraft handling, improper
- Pilot of other aircraft › Clearance, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
AFTER THE TWO ACFT WERE ESTABLISHED AT 14,000 FT DURING A TARGET TOWING OPERATION, N13MJ(LEAD ACFT) MAINTAINED STRAIGHT & LEVEL FLT ON AUTOPILOT WHILE N47MJ(CHASE) CAME UP ALONG THE LEFT SIDE TO OBSERVE THE TARGET ON THE LEFT WING. WHILE MOVING FORWARD & LOOKING OUT THE RIGHT WINDOW TO SEE A LIGHT ON THE TARGET, THE CHASE PLT LOST SIGHT OF THE LEAD ACFT. HE REDUCED PWR, & IN THE PROCESS OF BACKING AWAY, THE CHASE ACFT STRUCK THE TOP OF THE FLYING TAIL OF THE LEAD ACFT WITHITS RADOME JAMMING THE FLYING TAIL. THE LEAD ACFT PITCHED DOWN, LOST ABOUT 6,000 FT & THEN RECOVERED. DURING THE EMERGENCY LANDING OF THE LEAD ACFT, IT PITCHED OVER WHEN THE GEAR WAS EXTENDED ON SHORT FINAL, STRUCK THE GROUND HARD SHORT OF THE RWY, BOUNCED, & STARTED PORPOISING. AS THE PLT ADDED POWER FOR A GO-AROUND, THE ACFT STARTED TO ROLL. PWR WAS REDUCED, & ABOUT 5,000 FT DOWN THE RWY, THE GEAR COLLAPSED CAUSING THE ACFT TO VEER OFF THE RWY. THE PLT OF THE CHASE ACFT WAS NOT MILITARY TRAINED & HAD NO FORMAL FORMATION FLIGHT TRAINING.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ATL83FA025
- Event ID
- 20020917X04299
- Case number
- ATL83FA025
- 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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 878a9593077a0bc6c521ab0822927270ade3e9a98ab2c2d6256065ce4add420d; retrieved 2026-09-18T21:23:32.539Z.