Published: Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 9:53 PM Updated: Tuesday, March 15, 2011, 9:53 PM
The crash of a charter jet that left from Atlantic City, killing all eight people aboard in Minnesota, was caused by pilot error, likely the result of fatigue from sleep deprivation and a lax cabin atmosphere, federal officials said today.
The National
"We believe that both pilots were not at the top of their game," Malcolm Brenner, an NTSB investigator, told the board during a meeting streamed live today from Washington, D.C. "They did not have the full night’s sleep that they normally do."
The board did not find criminal wrongdoing but did make more than a dozen recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, including a requirement that charter companies adopt standard procedures for flight crews.
An FAA spokesman, Jim Peters, said the agency would respond to the recommendations within 90 days.
The NTSB said the probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s late decision to abort the 9:45 a.m. landing at Owatonna Regional Airport, about 60 miles south of Minneapolis.
Investigators said the pilot was surprised by the weather after failing to get an adequate forecast, was slow to deploy the jet’s deceleration system after touchdown and then tried to take the Hawker Beechcraft back up after having slowed to about 80 mph with just 1,200 feet of runway remaining.
"It was just a split-second, bad decision," Brenner said. "I believe fatigue was a major factor."
The plane never got back off the ground and crashed in a culvert beyond the runway. Among those killed were several people working on the Revel Hotel & Casino project in Atlantic City.
The plane was operated by East Coast Jets of Allentown, Pa., with pilot Clark Keefer of Bethlehem, Pa., and first officer Dan D’Ambrosio of Hellertown, Pa., as crew.
An East Coast statement released last night alluded to a mechanical defect on the plane as "a substantial contributing factor" that the NTSB did not address.
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