NTSB investigators say, Errors by the two pilots caused a business jet to go into an aerodynamic stall and crash in a wooded area a few blocks from the airport and near houses in 2021, killing all on board.
The cause of the fatal plane crash in California’s Tahoe area has been revealed as poor crew resource management, federal transportation authorities said, though whether the captain or copilot ultimately had control of the aircraft remains unknown to them.
A Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet with a registration number N605TR , that carried six passengers from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to Truckee on July 26, 2021, crashed just short of the Truckee-Tahoe Airport.
Final investigation report released by the National Transportation Safety Board read ,
On July 26, 2021, the Bombardier Challenger 605 business jet was flying from Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho, to the Truckee-Tahoe airport in California when it crashed during a circling approach to land. In the course of these maneuvers, the airplane exceeded the critical angle of attack and entered an asymmetric aerodynamic stall, resulting in a rapid left roll and impact with the ground.
While on approach to a runway at the Truckee-Tahoe Airport, the captain determined that it was too short for how heavy of a plane he was flying, the report said. The captain decided to circle to land in a different, longer runway.
Coming up on the second runway, the airplane’s speed was 44 knots (51 mph) above the landing reference speed of 118 knots (136 mph) that the flight crew had calculated earlier in the flight, officials said.
As per NTSB, poor crew resource management “contributed to the flig’s degraded performance and competition for control of the airplane.” In the final five seconds of the flight, the first officer asked for control of the airplane three times, but the captain never transferred control to the first officer.
Investigators said that it’s likely the first officer “improperly attempted to take control of the aircraft without permission from the captain.”
“I’m gonna get your speed under control for you,” the first officer told the captain, according to the NTSB report.
However, investigation revealed , a flight crew member never verbalized a positive transfer of control as required by the general operating manual, authorities said. The NTSB said it could not determine who had control of the airplane following these requests.
As the airplane crossed the runway’s center line, the first officer noted the airplane was too high, documents said. One of the pilots, though the investigation could not determine which, fully deployed flight spoilers to increase the airplane’s sink rate. Flight spoilers can be deployed with a lever accessible to both pilots, the board said.
The plane’s speed at this point was 17 knots (20 mph) above the landing reference speed. The left bank became steeper, and a protection system engaged about 7 seconds later, according to the report.
The FO commented that they had too much airspeed at the beginning of the approach and then suggested a 360° turn to the captain, but the captain never acknowledged the excessive airspeed and refused the 360° turn.
After the FO visually identified the airport, he told the captain to make a 90° right turn to put the airplane on an approximate heading of 290°, which was parallel to runway 11 and consistent with the manufacturer’s operating manual procedures for the downwind leg of the circling approach.
NTSB Report read,
On the base leg to the runway and about 25 seconds before impact with the ground, the FO started to repeatedly ask for control of the airplane, but neither flight crewmember verbalized a positive transfer of control as required by the operator’s general operating manual (GOM); we could not determine who had control of the airplane following these requests.
“What are you doing?” the captain asked the first officer, the report said.
“Let (me) have the airplane,” the first officer asked repeatedly.
The airplane then entered a rapid left roll and crashed. A fire consumed most of the wreckage, the report said.
The stick shaker and stick pusher then briefly disengaged before engaging again. The airplane then entered a rapid left roll, consistent with a left-wing stall, and impacted terrain. A postcrash fire consumed most of the wreckage.
The report concluded that the probable cause of the accident was first officer’s “improper decision” to attempt to save a poor approach with a steep left turn, and the captain’s failure to intervene. Both the pilot and first officer reportedly ignored protection system warnings, the NTSB said.
The six occupants have been identified in 2021 by the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office as: Thomas Ebaugh, 56, of Lakeville, Minn.; married couple Ryan and Christine Thomas, 38 and 33, respectively, of La Quinta; Kevin Kvarnlov, 34, of Mendota Heights, Minn.; Alberto Montero De Collado De La Rosa, 43, of Mexico; and John Dunn, 62, of Dallas.
The NTSB report does not specify, but indicates that the 43-year-old, Montero De Collado De La Rosa, was flying as the captain and that the 56-year-old, Ebaugh, was flying as the copilot.
However, the report showed that Montero De Collado De La Rosa had 5,680 total lifetime hours of flight time and that Ebaugh had 14,308 hours.
The complete 26-page report is available on CAROL. The accident docket, which includes the cockpit voice recorder transcript and other factual materials, is available on the NTSB Docket Management System.
