Crash of Learjet 35A Flight N47BA (@aviation.auto)
In 1999, a plane took a strange route over the United States - it took off from Florida and climbed as usual to the intended altitude, but instead of flying towards Dallas, it began flying in a straight line over the US towards Canada. The crew could not be contacted and military aircraft were called in to escort and even intercepted the Phantom flight, fearing the worst. However, what no one knew at the time was that everyone on board the plane was either unconscious or dead.
The Learjet 35, listed as flight N47BA, was a private jet carrying some very important people. They took off from Orlando, Florida, on October 25, 1999, and among the passengers were golf legend Payne Stewart, former football star Robert Fraley, president of Stuart van Arden's golf agency, and Bruce Borland, golf course architect from the Jack Nicklaus Company. Also on board were the two pilots, Michael Kling and Stephanie Belgerrigg, for whom it was a routine trip to Dallas, Texas. In total, six people were on board the small plane, which was set up for an easy three-hour journey.
They took off as usual and began climbing to a pre-approved altitude of 11,900 metres (39,000 ft) above sea level. At 7,000 m (23,000 ft), a radio connection was confirmed by the pilot, indicating that everything was in order – this was the last message to come from the aircraft.
Six minutes later, he tried again to contact the plane, but there was no response. After many attempts at contact over the next few minutes failed, red lights went off, alarm bells began ringing, and it was time for the Air Force to intervene.
An F-16 plane in the area flew in to intercept the Learjet and conduct a visual inspection. Colonel Olson, who flew him, concluded that the plane had no visible damage and was flying in a straight trajectory, but he could not see what was happening in the cockpit and identify the crew - the windows were sealed, as if covered with condensation of water or ice.
Two more interceptions were checked later - and the concern grew. According to some reports, the Pentagon considered shooting it down in case the plane landed in a populated area, but these reports were denied and claimed that this was never an option considered.
But then-Prime Minister Jean Chrétien later admitted in a book that if the Learjet 35 had entered Canadian airspace, it would have been allowed to be shot down for fear that it might crash into Winnipeg.
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Since he only carried fuel for four and a half hours of flight, when it ran out he began to dive down a spiral trajectory. Eyewitnesses noted that it appeared to get out of control and scrambled toward the ground at almost supersonic speed. It crashed on flat ground in South Dakota, destroying the entire plane and leaving a large crater.
So what happened to the team? After an investigation, it was determined that there had been a drastic drop in air pressure throughout the aircraft. It is unclear why this happened, but the crew was unable to obtain enough oxygen and lost consciousness as a result of hypoxia. The people on the plane quickly felt that they had no air and lost consciousness as a result of the drop in oxygen level, as had happened to the pilots earlier. From here, the autopilot maintained the altitude of the aircraft and flew straight, until the fuel ran out. For almost four hours, the plane flew without anyone at the wheel.
To this day, it is unclear why the drop in air pressure occurred, the black box findings indicated that no one was awake in the last minutes of the flight and it is possible that the entire crew lost consciousness straight after their last contact. The findings in the wreckage indicated that the pressure valve of the oxygen bottle that was supposed to kick in the event of a drop in air pressure was open and the mimicry team determined that assuming the oxygen bottle contained an adequate supply of oxygen, additional oxygen should have been available to the oxygen masks of the two pilots. It is not known why this did not happen.
In summing up the investigation, the Safety Board was unable to determine why the flight crew could not, or did not receive supplemental oxygen in sufficient time and/or concentration to prevent hypoxia and loss of function.
A report by the National Transportation Safety Board showed that the aircraft had undergone a number of maintenance work related to cabin pressure in the months leading up to the crash. Investigators were unable to determine whether the work was due to a common problem — replacements and repairs were documented, but no pilot discrepancy reports were found that caused repairs or the frequency of such reports.
A monument now stands at the crash site, dedicated to the victims of the tragic accident, but we will never know what really happened aboard Learjet 35.
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