EMBRAER EMB-500 — Gaithersburg, MD, 2014

EMBRAER EMB-500 — Gaithersburg, MD

3 fatal High-time pilotIMC

Date	December 8, 2014
Location	Gaithersburg, MD
Aircraft	EMBRAER EMB-500
Purpose of flight	Personal
Conditions	Day · Instrument Meteorological Cond
Phase / occurrence	Enroute-descent Structural icing
Pilot age	66
Pilot total time	4,737 hrs · High time
Time in type	136 hrs
Fatalities	3

Probable cause

the pilot's conduct of an approach in structural icing conditions without turning on the airplane's wing and horizontal stabilizer deice system, leading to ice accumulation on those surfaces, and without using the appropriate landing performance speeds for the weather conditions and airplane weight, as indicated in the airplane's standard operating procedures, which together resulted in an aerodynamic stall at an altitude at which a recovery was not possible.

NTSB findings

Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Ice/rain protection system-Airfoil anti-ice, deice-Not used/operated
Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Pilot
Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-(general)-Effect on equipment
Personnel issues-Task performance-Planning/preparation-(general)-Pilot
Aircraft-Aircraft handling/service-Loading-(general)-Related operating info
Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Indicating/recording systems-(general)-Not installed/available

What happened

The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-16/01.

On December 8, 2014, about 1041 eastern standard time, an Embraer EMB-500 airplane (marketed as the Phenom 100), N100EQ, registered to and operated by Sage Aviation LLC, crashed while on approach to runway 14 at Montgomery County Airpark (GAI), Gaithersburg, Maryland. The airplane impacted three houses and the ground about 3/4 mile from the approach end of the runway. A postcrash fire involving the airplane and one of the three houses, which contained three occupants, ensued. The pilot, the two passengers, and the three people in the house died as a result of the accident. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.