2009-Feb 5-Platinum Jet co-founders Michael Brassington, 35, and Paul Brassington, 29, company manager Andre Budhan, 42, and maintenance director Brien„© McKenzie, 42 were arrested Wednesday on charges they violated federal aircraft regulations, contributing to a 2005 accident –Canadair Challenger 600 business jet failed to take off, crossed a heavily traveled road, hitting cars along the way, and slammed into a warehouse–at New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport. Additional warrants have also been issued for charter director Joseph Singh, 37, and pilot Francis Viera, 59.
What: Canadair Challenger 600 business jet
Where: New Jersey’s Teterboro Airport
When: Feb. 2, 2005
Who: 20 people injured
Why: The accident has been judged to be due to fuel loading (weight shift)
See NTSB Publication Below:
Aircraft Accident Report
Runway Overrun and Collision
Platinum Jet Management, LLC
Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V
Teterboro, New Jersey
February 2, 2005
NTSB Number AAR-06/04
NTIS Number PB2007-910401
Executive Summary: On February 2, 2005, about 0718 eastern standard time, a Bombardier Challenger CL-600-1A11, N370V, ran off the departure end of runway 6 at Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, at a ground speed of about 110 knots; through an airport perimeter fence; across a six-lane highway (where it struck a vehicle); and into a parking lot before impacting a building. The two pilots were seriously injured, as were two occupants in the vehicle. The cabin aide, eight passengers, and one person in the building received minor injuries. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postimpact fire. The accident flight was an on-demand passenger charter flight from TEB to Chicago Midway Airport, Chicago, Illinois. The flight was subject to the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 and operated by Platinum Jet Management, LLC (PJM), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, under the auspices of a charter management agreement with Darby Aviation (Darby), Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the accident was the pilots’ failure to ensure the airplane was loaded within weight-and-balance limits and their attempt to take off with the center of gravity well forward of the forward takeoff limit, which prevented the airplane from rotating at the intended rotation speed.
Contributing to the accident were: 1) PJM’s conduct of charter flights (using PJM pilots and airplanes) without proper Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification and its failure to ensure that all for-hire flights were conducted in accordance with 14 CFR Part 135 requirements; 2) Darby Aviation’s failure to maintain operational control over 14 CFR Part 135 flights being conducted under its certificate by PJM, which resulted in an environment conducive to the development of systemic patterns of flight crew performance deficiencies like those observed in this accident; 3) the failure of the Birmingham, Alabama, FAA Flight Standards District Office to provide adequate surveillance and oversight of operations conducted under Darby’s Part 135 certificate; and 4) the FAA’s tacit approval of arrangements such as that between Darby and PJM.
The safety issues addressed in this report include weight and balance procedures; flight crew actions, training, and procedures; company oversight and operational control; FAA responsibility and oversight; cabin aide actions, training, and procedures; and runway safety areas.
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MIT engineers have built a car that flies. Or a plane that drives on the street. This vehicle flies (and drives) on ordinary gas. Below, we have attached a clip of the TRA’s first flight, or as the video calls it, it’s “Wright Brothers Moment.” The wings retract so it can drive on the road.
