Gates Lear Jet 35 N110UN accident near Opa-Locka, Florida

Probable cause

The flightcrew’s inadvertent encounter with windshear during landing, which resulted in a loss of control.

NTSB analysis

When the pilot made his initial radio contact with the tower air traffic controller, he acknowledged receiving the airport’s latest automatic terminal information service information. As the airplane approached the airport, the controller made several announcements that there was an area of weather about 5 miles in diameter with light-to-moderate precipitation over the airport. The pilot reported that, during the landing, at an altitude of about 30 feet above the runway, the airplane encountered windshear. The airplane started to roll to the left, and the airspeed decreased by 20 knots. As the pilot attempted to regain control of the airplane, the right wingtip contacted the runway surface. A review of high resolution automated surface observation system data from the airport indicated that, 2 minutes before the accident, the wind was from 338 degrees at 4 knots. Subsequently, there was a steady increase in wind velocity to 15 knots 4 minutes after the accident. During this 6 minute period, the wind direction varied between 353 degrees and 011 degrees. Terminal Doppler weather radar data indicated strong convective activity northwest of the airport from 2 minutes before to 10 minutes after the accident with possible micro bursts and diverging winds near the surface from the time of the accident to 5 minutes after the accident.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA11LA397 for the full record.