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Florida: Mexican Learjet Departs Fort Lauderdale Airport, Crashes in Atlantic Ocean
A Mexican-registered Learjet 35 took off from the airport in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday but crashed soon after in the Atlantic Ocean. The Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) said that the jet went down about four miles off the coast, according to BNO News. The jet was bound for Cozumel, Mexico. The jet is capable of carrying 10 people but it’s not yet known if it was full. http://flightaware.com/live/flight/XAUSD (www.theepochtimes.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
Listening to the ATC tape again, it seams that they definitely had a bigger problem than the loss of an engine. The initial check-in with departure indicated no problem and the aircraft should have been cleaned up and an engine failure would have been relatively easy to handle. The subsequent transmissions of climb to 4000' not possible and the immediate 180 request hints at dual engine failure or reduction in power, possibly due to birds, or some other major problem.
They had a fairly quick altitude decay. They did a decent job of maintaining airspeed, but given the altitude drop, they may have been gliding, and trading altitude for speed in an attempt to get back to an airfield. More information should be made available as the investigation continues.
I know water is unforgiving, but the wreckage looks much worse than a botched ditching attempt. They must have lost it at some point. Engine restart attempts could darken the cockpit and nighttime conditions were no help.
The darkness is unforgiving. It is easier to botch the ditching attempt when you can't even see the water. You have to rely on instruments and call outs (altitude and terrain warnings*), all while dealing with whatever emergency - be it dual engine failure or reduced power or what have you - and still put the plane down smoothly. Wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
*figure Learjets have these audible warnings too.
*figure Learjets have these audible warnings too.
http://flightaware.com/live/flight/XAUSD/history/20131119/2330Z/KFLL/MMCZ
We have received several media inquiries regarding the fatal learjet crash off the Fort Lauderdale coast.XA-USD was leased by our company several years ago. We ceased utilizing that aircraft 4 years ago.The owner /operator is AeroJL from Toluca, and the medical service provider is Air Evac International from San Diego California. Our deepest condolences to those families in grief.