SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A private jet apparently experiencing mechanical trouble crashed Sunday March 17, 2013 in a northern Indiana neighborhood, hitting three homes and killing two people aboard the plane.
Hawker Beechcraft 390 Premier 1 Crash Scene In South Bend, IN
The Hawker Beechcraft 390 Premier I twin-jet had left Tulsa, Okla.'s Riverside Airport and crashed late Sunday afternoon near South Bend Regional Airport.
Two of four people aboard the plane were killed.
The plane was registered to 7700 Enterprises of Montana LLC in Helena, Mont. The company is owned by Wes Caves and does business as DigiCut Systems in Tulsa, Okla. It makes window film and paint overlay for automobiles
Mike Daigle, executive director of the St. Joseph County Airport Authority, said the jet attempted a landing about 4:15 p.m., went back up and maneuvered south to try another landing, but eight minutes later the airport learned the plane was no longer airborne.
"There was an indication of a mechanical problem," Herwig said.
The crash comes less than a month after the crash of another Hawker Beechcraft 390 jet in Thomson Georgia.
Five people died in that crash that also happened during an aborted landing.
Normally you could just fault tragic coincidence, but
On March 4, 2013, a Hawker Beechcraft model 390 (Premier IA) business jet, with a Cayman Islands registration of VP-CAZ, collided with terrain shortly after takeoff from Aérodrome d'Annemasse (LFLI), near Cranves-Sales, France.
Wittnesses reported that the aircraft struggled shortly after leaving the runway struck a barn then a fence and bounced once before impacting the ground behind a farm house and bursting into flames.
The wreckage of Hawker Beechcraft VP-CAZ
Hawker Beechcraft VP-CAZ
Satelite View of the airfield and crash site shown suspected flight path of VP-CAZ
The pilot and copilot were fatally injured, the sole passenger sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to Chakibel Associates Limited and operated by Global Jet Luxembourg.
VFR visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that had the intended destination of Genève Aéroport (LSGG), Geneva, Switzerland.
Cedar's Take: I'd expect the NTSB and FAA guys have taken notice. Just too many similarities, to call it coincidence. The Hawker Beechcraft may just not be as forgiving as pilots expect in certian configurations, much like a Lear-25.