Sunday, March 13, 2022

Honda HA-420 HondaJet, N903JT: Accident occurred March 09, 2022 at Allegheny County Airport (KAGC), West Mifflin, Pennsylvania

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

The National Transportation Safety Board did not travel to the scene of this accident. 

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Honda Aircraft Company; Greensboro, North Carolina 
Jet It LLC; Greensboro, North Carolina 

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 
Accident Number: ERA22LA150
Date and Time: March 9, 2022, 08:27 Local 
Registration: N903JT
Aircraft: Honda Jet HA-420 
Injuries: 3 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 135: Air taxi and commuter - Non-scheduled

On March 9, 2022, about 0827 eastern daylight time, a Honda Jet HA-420, N903JT, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The two pilots and one passenger were not injured. The airplane was operated by JetIt, LLC as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 air taxi flight.

The training captain was flying with the first officer on day 6 of the first officer’s Initial Operating Experience, during which the first officer was the pilot-flying. According to the flight crew, they checked the weather prior to departure from Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, briefed for the potential winter weather conditions upon landing at Allegheny County Airport (AGC),
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and departed around 0720.

The training captain stated that he monitored ATIS once in range of AGC and did not recall hearing any remarks pertaining to runway braking action or surface contamination reports, although he noted remarks about contamination on taxiways and ramp areas. Subsequently, he checked in with the approach controller and was advised that snowplows were on the runway. He considered this an indication that the airport was “taking care of the runway in the light snow.” He “never anticipated runway contamination” and the crew based their landing distance calculations on a wet runway. The first officer flew the ILS approach to runway 28 with the autopilot engaged. The training captain visually acquired the runway environment upon reaching decision altitude and the first officer continued the approach. The training captain acquired the runway about 150 feet above ground level, noticing the runway shoulders were obscured by snow, and the center line was visible.

The first officer disconnected the autopilot and continued the landing. The training captain recalled feeling “faster than normal” when the airplane touched down in the “first third” of the grooved 6,501-ft runway. The airplane began to decelerate; however, the captain called for maximum braking when he detected the deceleration to be insufficient to stop the airplane on the remaining runway. He applied the emergency brake and steered to the left to try to stay on the airport property. The airplane skidded sideways, departed the end of the runway, and travelled tail-first over the edge of a steep incline, coming to rest in trees. The pilots and passenger evacuated out the main cabin door. The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage.

Weather conditions at the time of the accident included ½ statute mile visibility, light snow, and an overcast ceiling at 400 ft. The airport ATIS reported at the time of the approach and landing included a Braking Action Advisory with a braking action report of “good” by a Pilatus at 0755 and a field condition NOTAM reporting 10% runway coverage with 1/8-inch slush on the landing runway.

The cockpit voice recorder/flight data recorder unit was retained for further examination.

Aircraft and Owner/Operator Information

Aircraft Make: Honda Jet
Registration: N903JT
Model/Series: HA-420 
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built:
Operator:
Operating Certificate(s) Held: On-demand air taxi (135)
Operator Designator Code:

Meteorological Information and Flight Plan

Conditions at Accident Site: IMC 
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation: KAGC,1273 ft msl
Observation Time: 08:15 Local
Distance from Accident Site: 1 Nautical Miles
Temperature/Dew Point: 1°C /-1°C
Lowest Cloud Condition:
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction: 3 knots / , 340°
Lowest Ceiling: Overcast / 400 ft AGL 
Visibility: 0.5 miles
Altimeter Setting: 29.88 inches Hg 
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Departure Point: Teterboro, NJ (TEB)
Destination: Pittsburgh, PA

Wreckage and Impact Information

Crew Injuries: 2 None 
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 1 None
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A 
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 3 None 
Latitude, Longitude: 40.354284,-79.941631




No one was injured Wednesday morning when an aircraft went off the runway at the Allegheny County Airport.

Three people were onboard the Honda HA-420 HondaJet when it left the runway around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Allegheny County Airport Authority spokesman Bob Kerlik said.

None of the passengers reported injuries when emergency personnel responded to the scene.
 
The Allegheny County Airport sees mostly private planes and medical helicopter flights. It is also the home of the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics.

The region received heavy snow Wednesday morning, causing some visibility issues, but a cause of the incident has not yet been determined.










WEST MIFFLIN, Pennsylvania — Officials are investigating after a small plane went off the runway at the Allegheny County Airport on Wednesday morning.

Airport officials said a Honda HA-420 HondaJet with three people on it went off the runway.

Emergency crews immediately responded and there were no reported injuries.

There were heavy snow showers in the area of the airport around the time of the incident. However, it’s not clear at this point if the weather played a factor in the airplane leaving the runway.

They Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating.

7 comments:

  1. apparent straight in approach to Runway 28, Dimensions: 6501 x 150 ft. / 1982 x 46 m.
    Reporting station KAGC
    Observed at 12:09 UTC on the 9th
    5 knot wind from 350˚
    Visibility of 2.50 statute miles
    Light snow
    Moderate mist
    Overcast clouds at 2800 feet
    Temperature 1˚C and dewpoint -1˚C
    Pressure: 29.87inHg (1011mb)
    Remarks follow
    Automated site with precipitation descriminator
    Precision temperature 0.6˚C and dewpoint -1.1˚C

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  2. The day before this incident, there was another HondaJet that went off the end of a runway in Canada.

    CADORS Number: 2022Q0698
    Occurrence Date: 2022-03-08
    Narrative: When landing on Runway 06L, a Skyservice Business Aviation Honda HA-420 (C-FJJT) from Val-d’Or, QC (CYVO) to Montreal/Saint-Hubert, QC (CYHU) overran the end of the runway and struck the Runway 24R approach lighting system. The runway was closed by NOTAM until further notice.

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  3. Very Naive and incompetent decision making.
    These conditions as ATIS stated are the "perfect" setup for failure.
    High demand for Fractional start-ups and flight crew shortages are placing unqualified individuals in places of great trust and responsibility.

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  4. I've read this has been happening a lot with this jet. No thrust reverse and poor single wheel braking. It needs the entire runway if contaminated. Braking distance nearly doubles. Can't land hot or long without a dry runway.

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    Replies
    1. It is indeed a jet that lacks stopping power. My 300 hours so far in type has been a steep learning curve. On top of it all, the Honda Jet is extremely hard on brake life, and they are extremely expensive to replace, overhaul. Ours has the updated Crane Anti Skid, but they have proven to be problematic as well.

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  5. I just read about two weeks ago in BCA Digest that the executive director of the HondaJet Owner's and Pilot's Association (HJOPA) has called for an organized but voluntary stand down of flight operations. They want to get to the root cause(s) of why so many HJ's are overrunning runways and if it is a training issue or an aircraft braking performance issue. A number that is heavily skewed to those jets compared to other light jets like the CJs that also do not have thrust reversers and number many times more in operation.

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  6. There has never been a call for a "stand down" of flight operations...A Safety Stand down is a call for a gathering of interest holders (owners, pilots etc) to discuss causes and or determine training methods to lessen accidents or incidents. This is how described by Google: "Safety Standdown started in Wichita, Kansas (United States) in 1996 as an aviation safety training event for a Bombardier Learjet Flight Demonstration Team. The objective was to improve aviation safety standards and sustain positive changes within the industry."

    ReplyDelete