NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his family survived the August 15, 2019 crash of a Cessna Citation Latitude jet caused by bad pilot decisions. John Goglia, Greg Feith and Todd Curtis go beyond the NTSB report to explore what led to an “unstabilized, ridiculously fast” landing that destroyed the aircraft.

Both crew members had hundreds of hours of flight experience in this aircraft model, and the copilot was also the director of operations for the airplane operator. In spite of their experience, the crew decided to continue the approach after realizing the aircraft was in an unstabilized approach.

The aircraft landed too fast, was not configured properly for landing, and bounced several times before one of the main landing gear collapsed. The plane then departed the runway, came to rest just outside the airport, and caught fire. Fortunately, everyone was able to escape. 

The detectives explore several factors:

• Lack of planning by the flight crew
• Use of nonstandard procedures to salvage an unstabilized approach
• Answers missing in the NTSB analysis of the accident. 

This accident is similar to a 2004 event involving a Gulfstream jet headed to Houston to pick up former president George H.W. Bush. Like the crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr, the experienced crew found themselves in an unstabilized approach, failed to follow standard procedures, and crashed. 

Don’t miss what’s to come from the Flight Safety Detectives - subscribe to the Flight Safety Detectives YouTube channel, listen at your favorite podcast service and visit the Flight Safety Detectives website.

Music: “Inspirational Sports” license ASLC-22B89B29-052322DDB8