No fatal accidents involving business jets worldwide were recorded in the first three months of this year versus one fatality in a single crash in the same period last year. However, there were five nonfatal accidents involving U.S.-registered business jets versus three in the same three-month period a year ago, according to preliminary statistics gathered by AIN. Non-U.S. registered business jets had no mishaps coded as accidents in the first quarters of this or last year.
The one fatal bizjet accident worldwide in the first quarter of last year is still under investigation by the NTSB.
On Jan. 9, 2021, a Cessna Citation 560 on a Part 91 personal flight crashed after the twinjet spiraled down to the ground from FL310, killing the pilot and sole occupant. Preliminary NTSB information reported that FAA records did not indicate that the pilot held a type rating for the Citation 560.
Of the five nonfatal bizjet accidents in the first quarter, two occurred under Part 91 and three under Part 135. In the same period last year, all four accidents (three nonfatal, one fatal) happened on Part 91 flights. There were no accidents involving charter flights in the first three months of 2021. Fractional jet operations (Part 91K in the U.S.) continued a multi-year accident-free record.
Fatalities from accidents of nonscheduled, non-cargo U.S.-registered business turboprops skyrocketed in the first quarter. Twelve people lost their lives in three crashes versus two people who perished in a single crash in the January through March timeframe in 2021. The NTSB is still investigating the fatal accident which occurred on Feb. 7, 2021, when a Cessna Conquest crashed while on an approach descent.
On Feb. 13, 2022, the pilot died in the takeoff crash of a Piper Meridian after takeoff from Johnson County Airport in Olathe, Kansas. In another accident on the same date, the pilot, his son, and six passengers were killed when their Pilatus PC-12 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off North Carolina. Three occupants also perished in the crash of their N-numbered Beech King Air C90 in Mexico on March 28, 2022.
There was one fatality in non-N-numbered business turboprops suffering accidents in the first quarter versus 17 fatalities from three accidents in the same quarter a year ago. On March 30, 2022, the pilot, who was believed to be the sole occupant in a German-registered Cessna Caravan 208, was killed when the single-engine turboprop hit a mountain in Switzerland.