The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has opened the public docket Wednesday on its ongoing investigation of a Gates Learjet 35A crash that occurred during a circling approach to a runway at Teterboro Airport, Teterboro, New Jersey, killing both crewmembers.
The May 15, 2017 accident left a debris field that was 440 feet long and 100 feet wide.
The crash and resulting fire damaged three buildings and 16 cars, according to NTSB investigator Jim Silliman.
Weather conditions at the time of the accident included crosswinds and gusting winds. “Airplanes land in crosswinds every day,” Silliman said. “Gusts make it harder, and the gusts were high.”
The plane was owned by A&C Big Sky Aviation, of Billings, Montana. A spokesman for the company said the captain had at least 20 years of experience with charter companies and the co-pilot had about four years of experience.
The docket contains over 900 pages of factual information including: investigative group reports, witness statements, interview summaries and a transcript of the cockpit voice recorder. It does not provide analysis, findings, recommendations or probable cause determinations. No conclusions about how or why an accident occurred should be drawn from the docket.
The release of the docket means that the investigative process where the majority of facts needed for the investigation have been gathered and the NTSB can move ahead with analysis of those facts. Opening the docket affords those with a need and desire for its contents the opportunity to review what factual information has been gathered about the accident. Any analysis, findings, recommendations, or probable cause determinations related to the accident will be issued by the Board at a later date.
The docket can be viewed at https://go.usa.gov/xnsUu.
