Less than a year after a small charter jet slammed into an apartment building in Akron, killing all on board, the National Transportation Safety Board is poised to say what it thinks caused the crash.
A meeting of the four-person NTSB board will be live-streamed beginning at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday from Washington, D.C., at which time they’ll announce the probable cause of the Nov. 10 crash that killed all seven passengers and the pilot and co-pilot in the corporate jet operated by ExecuFlight out of Florida.
The passengers, from a Florida real estate development firm, were on a tour to look at Midwest properties. Akron was their last stop.
En route to Akron Fulton Airport in poor visibility, the plane crashed into an Ellet neighborhood just seconds short of the high school. No one on the ground was injured.
The NTSB will issue a final report on the crash as part of the meeting, spokesman Terry Williams said. The meeting will begin with an opening statement by the NTSB board chairman.
“We cannot find fault. We determine the cause,” Williams said. The board also will issue recommendations that are intended to make transportation safer, he said.
The meeting may last as long as 2½ hours and will include staff presentations, Williams said.
The Hawker 127-700 jet, which left Dayton at 2:14 p.m. for a quick flight to Akron Fulton International Airport, was on final approach shortly before 3 p.m. The weather was cold, gloomy and with low cloud cover.
Cockpit conversations reviewed by the Beacon Journal show the flight crew was confused by instrument readings, including altitude and speed, and where the plane was in its final approach. In addition, the co-pilot was flying the craft, not the captain. Pilots who reviewed the cockpit transcripts at the newspaper’s request questioned the co-pilot’s experience.
The jet crashed and burned about two miles from Akron Fulton in a residential neighborhood off Mogadore Road.
This was the first time the flight crew had flown into Akron Fulton.
Other records reviewed by the Beacon Journal showed that the Hawker jet received normal maintenance and upgrades in its years of service.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ