NTSB Reports Clues in Stewart Crash
W A S H I N G T O N, Sept. 27, 2000 -- The Learjet that carried golfer Payne Stewartto his death last October — probably after losing cabin pressure — had previous problems with its cabin pressure system, maintenancelogs show.
On Feb. 9, 1998, a pilot reported that the plane sometimes wouldnot hold cabin pressure at low altitude, and in July 1999,mechanics again were asked to check the system, according tomaintenance reports released today by the NationalTransportation Safety Board.
The logs also showed that a valve had to be replaced followinginflight loss of cabin pressure on June 28, 1989.
The plane Stewart was on departed Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 25, forDallas. Radio contact was lost with the plane as it passed north ofGainesville, Fla.
The flight continued on autopilot until it ran out of gas andcrashed near Aberdeen, S.D. There has been speculation that thecabin pressure system failed, causing the crew and passengers topass out from lost of oxygen.
The crash destroyed or damaged several parts of the oxygen andpressure systems; some remain missing.
Series of Pre-crash RepairsThe NTSB, which continues to investigate the accident, hasreleased, without comment, a series of reports on the crashdescribing the findings of various teams of analysts.
The plane was operated by Sunjet Aviation Inc., which had done arepurchase inspection on the plane on Feb. 8, 1999. Since then,company records showed there had been a repair on a cabin door,some service was done on emergency air lines, an oxygen bottle linewas replaced and a flow valve was cleaned.
On Oct. 12, two weeks before the crash, a bleed air leak wasfound in the plane’s tail and was repaired by replacing a gasket.Bleed air is drawn from the plane’s engines to increase thepressure inside the cabin.
The day before the accident, Sunjet maintenance workers fixed anengine power problem by replacing a fuel flow valve, the reportshowed. The morning of the crash the plane was flown to Orlando ataltitudes of 12,000 feet to 13,000 feet with no pressure problemsreported.
Airplanes are pressurized so that the atmosphere inside neverfeels higher than about 8,000 feet, even if the aircraft is flyingmuch higher.
The FAA has reported that Stewart’s plane climbed as high as51,000 feet during its flight across the nation’s heartland.
The jet flew four hours and 1,400 miles before it crashed inSouth Dakota.
No Cockpit Recording CluesThe new report showed no conversation on the plane’s cockpitvoice recorder which, though heavily damaged in the crash, savedthe final 30 minutes of sound.
That included an altitude warning alarm, which stopped justbefore the crash as the plane descended, and a high speed alarmwhich continued until the end of the tape. The cabin altitudewarning alarm sounds when pressure drops below the 10,000 footlevel.