Janet Beechcraft 1900 crash
Janet (EG&G) / Beechcraft 1900C · The crash of a Janet Beechcraft 1900 occurred on 16 March 2004
From Nellis Air Force Base (LSV) to Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, United States
Event
- 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
- Event fatalities
- 5 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- Unknown
- Survivors
- 0
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- Unknown
- 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
- Airline
Beechcraft 1900C
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft 1900
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- 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
- N27RA
- Operator
- Janet (EG&G) /
- Onboard fatalities
- 5
- Route
- From Nellis Air Force Base (LSV)To Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, United States
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Physical
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.
From the Wikipedia article
The crash of a Janet Beechcraft 1900 occurred on 16 March 2004. On that day an aircraft of the type Beechcraft 1900C, which belonged to the fleet of the clandestine airline Janet, crashed near the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada. According to official information, the flight was operated for the United States Air Force. The aircraft crashed after the only pilot on board suffered a heart attack in flight. All five people on board were killed in the accident.
Occupants and flight sequence
There were four passengers on board the aircraft. Unlike on conventional passenger flights, the aircraft's captain was on board as the only pilot and the only crew member.
The flight was officially operated by the United States Air Force, and the aircraft officially also belonged to it. This is because the operation of the airline JANET is organised as clandestinely as if it did not exist.
The aircraft had taken off from a remote runway of Nellis Air Force Base. The destination of the flight was the airfield on the Tonopah Test Range. The aircraft took off at 03:43 local time.
Accident sequence
Shortly after the captain had reported that he had the runway lights in sight, he configured the aircraft for the final approach and flew a right turn for a direct visual approach to runway 32. While he was flying the turn, he suffered sudden cardiac death. Halfway through the approach turn the aircraft began to descend gradually until at 04:01 it struck the ground, broke apart and caught fire. All five people on board were killed.
Investigation and cause
Cause
According to the United States Air Force accident investigation board, the captain had become incapacitated during the landing approach because of his sudden cardiac death. The investigation found that the pilot had violated government regulations, wilfully deceived aviation medical examiners, withheld significant medical information and took inappropriate medication that further worsened his state of health. The pilot was said to have suffered from high blood pressure and not to have reported this to his employer. In addition, he was said to have denied to medical examiners of the Federal Aviation Administration that he was taking medication.
Translated into English with AI assistance from the German Wikipedia article “Absturz einer Beechcraft 1900 der Janet” (revision 252290867, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article
Sources
German Wikipedia article: Absturz einer Beechcraft 1900 der Janet
- Translation
- Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
- Revision
- 252290867 · 2025-01-15 · retrieved 2026-09-19
- Wikidata
- Q65226908
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- de Wikipedia article "Absturz einer Beechcraft 1900 der Janet" (page 10774197, revision 252290867), translated into English with AI assistance
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- none
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia article lead
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the German Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.