Oil Pressure Warnings Preceded Challenger Engine Failure

Oil pressure warnings preceded the failure of both engines and the February 9 fatal crash of a chartered Bombardier Challenger 604 on a highway. The aircraft was on approach to Naples Municipal Airport in Florida, according to the preliminary report recently issued by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The two pilots of the Part 135 flight operated by Ace Aviation Services (doing business as Hop-A-Jet), were killed in the accident. The flight attendant and two passengers escaped with minor injuries.

Flight data recorder information revealed that the first of three master warnings was recorded less than a minute before both engines flamed out: first, "L Engine Oil Pressure," then, "R Engine Oil Pressure," and then "Engine." The system alerted pilots with the illumination of a “Master Warning” light, a corresponding red message on the crew alerting system, and a triple chime voice advisory, “Engine oil.”

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With details still emerging, it appears that the pilots and a trained cabin crewmember saved the aircraft’s passengers.

Twenty seconds later, at about 1,000 feet msl and 122 knots on a shallow intercept angle for the final approach course, the crew announced, “…lost both engines…emergency…making an emergency landing.” The tower controller acknowledged the call and cleared the airplane to land. Seven seconds later, with the aircraft at 900 feet and 115 knots, the crew replied, “We are cleared to land but we are not going to make the runway… ah…we have lost both engines.”

Dashcam video submitted to the NTSB, which captured the final second of the flight, showed the airplane descending in a shallow left turn and then the wings leveling before it touched down aligned with traffic traveling in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75. The left main landing gear touched down first in the center of the three lanes followed by the right main landing gear in the right lane.

The airplane continued through the breakdown lane and into a grass-shoulder area before running into a concrete sound barrier. The twinjet came to rest about 1,000 feet past the initial touchdown point, upright in the grass area between the breakdown lane and the sound barrier wall facing north, opposite the direction of vehicle travel. Both engine throttle levers were found near the IDLE stop position

After the Challenger came to rest, the cabin attendant said she found the cabin and emergency exits blocked by fire. She then coordinated a successful egress through the baggage compartment door in the tail section of the aircraft.

The airplane, N823KD, was returning to Naples from Ohio State University Airport in Columbus, Ohio, where it had flown earlier in the day. It received 2,345 pounds (350 gallons) of fuel before departing.

The 2004 model aircraft’s most recent continuous airworthiness inspection was completed on January 5 at 9,763 total hours of operation. NTSB said a visual examination of the main fuel control and main fuel pump revealed no anomalies and the oil filter appeared in good condition with no particles seen within the pleats. The main fuel inlet port exhibited a small, yellow-colored debris particle. All the associated components, in addition to both engines, were retained for further examination.