EMBRAER EMB-500SAGE AVIATION LLC
Gaithersburg, MD, USA · 2014-12-08·N100EQ
What happened
NTSB summary, verbatimThe NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/01. On December 8, 2014, about 1041 eastern standard time, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane (marketed as the Phenom 100), N100EQ, registered to and operated by Sage Aviation LLC, crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
Photographs
4the aircraft, and what the investigators foundPhotographs are NTSB docket attachments — works of the US government, in the public domain. Captions are the Board’s own.
Probable cause
the Board's determinationthe pilot's conduct of an approach in structural icing conditions without turning on the airplane's wing and horizontal stabilizer deice system, leading to ice accumulation on those surfaces, and without using the appropriate landing performance speeds for the weather conditions and airplane weight, as indicated in the airplane's standard operating procedures, which together resulted in an aerodynamic stall at an altitude at which a recovery was not possible.
Occurrence sequence
3 stepsNTSB coding · CICTT taxonomy- 1 · Enroute-descentStructural icing
- 2 · Approach-IFR final approachLoss of control in flightdefining event
- 3 · Approach-IFR final approachCollision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
Findings
3 causal · 3 contributing- CAUSEPersonnel issues › Action/decision › Action › Lack of action — Pilot
- CAUSEEnvironmental issues › Conditions/weather/phenomena › Ceiling/visibility/precip — Effect on equipment
- CAUSEAircraft › Aircraft systems › Ice/rain protection system › Airfoil anti-ice, deice — Not used/operated
- FACTORPersonnel issues › Task performance › Planning/preparation — Pilot
- FACTORAircraft › Aircraft handling/service › Loading — Related operating info
- FACTORAircraft › Aircraft systems › Indicating/recording systems — Not installed/available
Safety recommendations
3 issuedwhat changed because of this accidentTO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Work with the General Aviation Manufacturers Association to develop a system that can automatically alert pilots when the ice protection systems should be activated on turbofan airplanes that require a type rating and are certified for single-pilot operations and flight in icing conditions.
TO THE GENERAL AVIATION MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION: Work with the Federal Aviation Administration to develop a system that can automatically alert pilots when the ice protection systems should be activated on turbofan airplanes that require a type rating and are certified for single-pilot operations and flight in icing conditions.
TO THE NATIONAL BUSINESS AVIATION ASSOCIATION: Work with your members that are manufacturers and training providers of turbofan airplanes that require a type rating and are certified for single-pilot operations and flight in icing conditions to develop enhanced pilot training guidelines pertaining to risk management in winter weather operations, including the use of ice protection systems and adherence to checklists, with special emphasis given to deficiencies in pilot performance identified in this accident, and make the results of this effort available to the community of pilots who fly these airplanes.
Sequence of events
1 timed eventsfrom the FDR factual report · claude-sonnet-5- 1041 ESTApproachp.1Airplane impacted terrain and houses about 0.75 miles short of runway 14 while on approach to Montgomery County Airpark (GAI)
NTSB analysis
from the final reportThe NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/01. On December 8, 2014, about 1041 eastern standard time, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane (marketed as the Phenom 100), N100EQ, registered to and operated by Sage Aviation LLC, crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.