NTSB says FAA was wrong not to require inspections of Learjet landing gear after Arizona crash
The National Transportation Safety Board wants owners of nearly 2,000 Learjets — which have long been associated with the rich and famous — to urgently inspect their landing gears to ensure they won’t collapse, as happened in a fatal crash in February involving a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil.
The NTSB released a report Wednesday saying the Federal Aviation Administration made a mistake in July when it decided not to require inspections of iconic private jets produced for about six decades. Many private companies and celebrities, starting with Frank Sinatra and extending to Beyonce and Jay-Z, have flown Learjets over the years, although the plane has been overshadowed by Gulfstreams and other newer models since the last Learjet delivery in 2022. Bombardier ended production of Learjets so it could focus on more profitable models.
Crash investigators are particularly concerned because only about 12 percent of the 1,883 potentially affected planes have been inspected so far, even though their manufacturer, Bombardier, recommended it in March, shortly after the Scottsdale, Arizona, crash.
“The FAA’s decision is particularly difficult to justify given the imminent risk of loss of life from a similar accident, the minimal effort required to complete the SB (Service Bulletins) – approximately 2 hours per aircraft – and the fact that Bombardier itself has urged the FAA to enforce compliance,” the NTSB wrote.
The FAA did not immediately respond to questions about the recommendations Wednesday.
Investigators looking into why the Learjet in question left a runway in Arizona and struck a business jet, killing one person, quickly determined that the left main landing gear had separated from the plane during landing. And the NTSB found three previous such incidents, years earlier, because a key retaining bolt was not properly held in place by a pin.
The crash killed the Learjet’s captain, Joie Vitosky, 78, and injured the plane’s co-pilot and a passenger as well as an occupant of the Gulfstream it collided with.
The NTSB said this problem is not easily detectable during routine maintenance or pre-flight inspections, but could be easily detected if the plane’s owners followed Bombardier’s recommendation.
The NTSB said the FAA should also require mechanics to visually check the position of the landing gear retaining bolt and trunnion every time they perform maintenance on the landing gear. Otherwise, the landing gear may not be securely attached to the aircraft.
In the Arizona crash, investigators determined the plane suffered a hard landing in June 2024 in Oklahoma that damaged the landing gear. Subsequent repairs included removing both main landing gears for inspection.
