The final session of CJP 2024 analyzed preliminary findings by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) regarding the November 2023 ground collision involving a C510 Citation Mustang landing at Houston Hobby Airport as a Hawker 850XP departed without clearance off an intersecting runway.
While no one was injured on either aircraft, “but for 1/20th of one second – eight feet – and none of them would be here today,” said Charlie Precourt, chair of the CJP Safety Committee. “They were extremely lucky.”
The accident demonstrates the importance of maintaining situation awareness at all times. Although blame would appear to lie on the Hawker (the NTSB has not yet issued its probable cause report) Precourt noted there were other factors at play, including lack of callouts by ATC at some points.
“If the tower controller and/or ATIS advises that you have simultaneous operations in use, calculating the performance potential to land offers another awareness,” he said. “If land and hold short operations (LAHSO) are in use, you ought to know whether or not you’re a candidate for that.”
Similarly, “you may also need to ask the tower if you don’t hear the expected radio calls,” he continued. “Remain vigilant. Visually scan if you can. And if you’re on simultaneous runways and you’re not getting that radio call – and your visual scanning is not giving you a warm and fuzzy feeling – go ahead and ask the tower about it ahead of time.”
The Hawker’s crew also told NTSB investigators they were preoccupied with the loss of V-speeds from their aircraft’s primary flight display as they taxied for departure. “They’re working the problem as they’re moving to the runway and then they start the roll without clearance.”
Adding to the confusion, Precourt noted it was actually clearance delivery – not the tower controller working the runways – who realized the Hawker was departing without takeoff clearance and advised the tower of the error.
Mustang’s empennage. NTSB photo.
He also acknowledged “it’s natural to wonder” if the Mustang pilot might have been able to see the Hawker rolling toward the intersection while on approach. “You must remember, they’re traveling at 170 feet per second,” Precourt said. “Could the Mustang have seen this was going to happen? The distance [between the two aircraft] was about a mile and a half. You’d have a hard time finding an airplane in a mile and a half; you’re also focused down final. You shouldn’t be worried about this stuff.”
However, “rather than reacting in the last 10 seconds, there are a bunch of things that could have happened earlier,” he continued. The tower could have provided both aircraft with the required position reports, Precourt added. The Mustang’s pilot could have also queried the tower about the simultaneous runway operations in effect.
Sunriver Gear-Up Landing
Precourt also touched on briefly the August 29, 2024 gear-up landing involving a CJP member’s Citation Mustang at Sunriver Airport (S21) in Oregon. Conditions were ideal for the landing, and “once they lowered the gear, you’d swear it didn’t have anything happen to it,” he said. “It looks like it’s got a couple of scratches on the nose gear and the inboard flap.”
Despite initial impressions, witnesses report the aircraft received substantial damage, with ground-off inner flap hinges and potential indications of a bent airframe. The flaps themselves appeared undamaged, and were stowed in the retracted position.
“The last time this happened [at Lake Havasu City Municipal Airport (HII) in Arizona, on December 1, 2021] the airplane caught fire,” Precourt continued. “And again, we don’t know much of anything, but that last time it was a DPE giving a check ride, and we suspect they were performing a no-flap approach on the checkride. And with the flaps up, you will never get another gear warning unless you go above 130 [knots.] They likely brought the throttles idle and canceled the gear warning.”
Precourt also showed FlightAware.com-derived tracking for the accident approach, noting the aircraft’s indicated groundspeed was VREF +40 at 2.5 miles from the runway. “If he ever got a [gear position] horn, based on his speed it would be a surprise to me,” he said.