Crime & Safety

Preliminary Report Released on Fatal Hanscom Plane Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board released the report Friday.

The National Transportation Safety Board released its preliminary report Friday on the May 31 plane crash at Hanscom Field in Bedford that killed seven.

The report, which is consistent with past findings, gives a technical and detailed account of the crash:

“A witness observed the airplane on the takeoff roll at a ‘high speed’ with ‘little to no altitude gained.’ The airplane subsequently rolled off the end of the runway, on to a runway safety area, and then on to grass. The airplane continued on the grass, where it struck approach lighting and a localizer antenna assembly, before coming to rest in a gully … about 1,850 feet from the end of the runway. A postcrash fire consumed a majority of the airplane aft of the cockpit; however; all major portions of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site.”

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“[Flight data recorder] data indicated the airplane reached a maximum speed of 165 knots during the takeoff roll and did not lift off the runway. FDR data further indicated thrust reversers were deployed and wheel brake pressures increased as the airplane decelerated. The FDR data ended about 7 seconds after thrust reverser deployment, with the airplane at about 100 knots. The FDR data did not reveal evidence of any catastrophic engine failures and revealed thrust lever angles consistent with observed engine performance.”

The plane, a Gulfstream G-IV, was headed to Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey. The seven on board included one pilot, two flight crew members and four passengers.

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