The crash of N722DB on Sunday in Palm Beach County is just the fifth fatal U.S. business jet charter accident in over 15 years.
The fatal crash of a Lear 60 private jet on Sunday in Palm Beach County, Florida, represented just the fifth fatal U.S. business jet charter accident since 2010.
The crash came after the co-pilot said the airplane was experiencing icing and then declared an emergency.
An NTSB press conference this afternoon indicated nine fatalities.
The flight had departed Austin, Texas, and was headed to the Bahamas when the accident occurred.
The Part 135 charter analysis excludes turboprop, piston, and rotorcraft aircraft.
It also excludes air ambulances, cargo charters, and Part 91 flights (non-commercial flights).
It specifically relates to passenger private jet charter flights.
The five fatal business jet accidents of N-registered tails included a 2012 Learjet 25 crash.
The accident was on a flight between Monterrey and Toluca, Mexico.
In 2015, a Hawker 700A crashed after departing Akron Regional Airport.
A Falcon 50 ran off the runway in South Carolina in 2018.
A Bombardier Challenger 604 business jet crashed onto Interstate 75 near Naples, Florida, in February 2024.
The aircraft involved yesterday, N722BD, was listed on the Part 135 D-085 charter certificate for Fort Lauderdale-based Aurora Aviation, Inc.
The company did business under the Upper Jets banner.
A June crash of a NetJets Citation Latitude on approach at El Paso, Texas, was a Part 91K fractional flight.
That accident also underscored the safety record of fractional private jet programs.
It was NetJets’ first fatal accident.
It was also the first fatal business jet accident by a fractional operator since at least 2006, according to an analysis of data by Aviation International News.
The 2021 report from Aviation International News covered accidents across all operation categories from 2010 through 2020.
It found Part 91 operated private jets had 32 fatal accidents resulting in 118 deaths.
For the turboprop market, business turboprops operating under Part 135 suffered 15 fatal accidents with 43 deaths. That included cargo, air ambulance, and sightseeing operations.
During the same period, Part 91 business turboprop flights saw 82 fatal accidents and 239 deaths.
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