Narrative:
A Gulfstream II jet owned by Eastman Kodak crashed during approach to Little Rock National Airport, AR (LIT), killing all seven on board.
During arrival, heavy rain showers were reported west of the airport. At the airport, the weather was about 200 feet obscured with fog and drizzle, wind was easterly at 5 to 7 kts. The pilots intended to land on runway 22, but after being told the wind was gusting to 27 kts, they elected to land on runway 4. The actual wind was not gusty. The erroneous gust indication was from a malfunction of the LLWAS. On final approach for an ILS runway 4 approach, the flight was advized the wind was from 030 deg at 5 kts and the rvr was 1800 ft. Minimum rvr for the approach was 2400 feet. The crew acknowledged; 22 sec later, the aircraft touched down 1600 feet short of runway 4 and hit the approach lighting system, railroad tracks and a fence.
Investigation revealed the aircraft descended through windshear. While manoeuvring onto final approach; ground speed varied between 320 and 190 kts as aircraft was manoeuvred through tailwind to headwind near the Final Approach Fix (FAF). There was a delay in descent from 4000 feet to 1900 feet before reaching the FAF and that the gear warning horn sounded before extension of gear and speed brakes. There was evidence of low engine rpm during impact, but no preimpact mechanical problem was found. Each pilot had over 10,000 hrs of flight time, but only about 160 hrs each in jet aircraft.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the pilot-in-command to follow IFR procedures (maintain an ILS glide path or initiate a missed approach) during an IFR arrival to the airport. Factors related to the accident were: unfavorable weather conditions, an erroneous wind indication from the low level windshear alert system (LLWAS), which resulted in an inaccurate weather (wind) observation, and failure of the pilots to take adequate remedial action."
Controlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Ground
accident date: 19-01-1990
type: Gulfstream American G-1159 Gulfstream II
registration: N119R
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Friday 19 January 1990 |
| Time: | 17:09 |
| Type: |  Gulfstream American G-1159 Gulfstream II |
| Operator: | Eastman Kodak |
| Registration: | N46TE |
| MSN: | 243 |
| First flight: | 1980 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 5812 |
| Engines: | 2 Rolls-Royce Spey 511-8 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 7 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Aircraft fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Little Rock National Airport, AR (LIT) ( United States of America)
|
| Crash site elevation: | 80 m (262 feet) amsl |
| Phase: | Approach (APR) |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | Longview-Gregg County Airport, TX (GGG/KGGG), United States of America |
| Little Rock National Airport, AR (LIT/KLIT), United States of America |
A Gulfstream II jet owned by Eastman Kodak crashed during approach to Little Rock National Airport, AR (LIT), killing all seven on board.
During arrival, heavy rain showers were reported west of the airport. At the airport, the weather was about 200 feet obscured with fog and drizzle, wind was easterly at 5 to 7 kts. The pilots intended to land on runway 22, but after being told the wind was gusting to 27 kts, they elected to land on runway 4. The actual wind was not gusty. The erroneous gust indication was from a malfunction of the LLWAS. On final approach for an ILS runway 4 approach, the flight was advized the wind was from 030 deg at 5 kts and the rvr was 1800 ft. Minimum rvr for the approach was 2400 feet. The crew acknowledged; 22 sec later, the aircraft touched down 1600 feet short of runway 4 and hit the approach lighting system, railroad tracks and a fence.
Investigation revealed the aircraft descended through windshear. While manoeuvring onto final approach; ground speed varied between 320 and 190 kts as aircraft was manoeuvred through tailwind to headwind near the Final Approach Fix (FAF). There was a delay in descent from 4000 feet to 1900 feet before reaching the FAF and that the gear warning horn sounded before extension of gear and speed brakes. There was evidence of low engine rpm during impact, but no preimpact mechanical problem was found. Each pilot had over 10,000 hrs of flight time, but only about 160 hrs each in jet aircraft.
Probable Cause:
PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the pilot-in-command to follow IFR procedures (maintain an ILS glide path or initiate a missed approach) during an IFR arrival to the airport. Factors related to the accident were: unfavorable weather conditions, an erroneous wind indication from the low level windshear alert system (LLWAS), which resulted in an inaccurate weather (wind) observation, and failure of the pilots to take adequate remedial action."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Classification:
Windshear/downdraftControlled Flight Into Terrain (CFIT) - Ground
Sources:
» NTSBPhotos
accident date: 19-01-1990
type: Gulfstream American G-1159 Gulfstream II
registration: N119R
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Longview-Gregg County Airport, TX to Little Rock National Airport, AR as the crow flies is 346 km (216 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.
Distance from Longview-Gregg County Airport, TX to Little Rock National Airport, AR as the crow flies is 346 km (216 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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Gulfstream
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