Why oversight matters

A Dassault Falcon 900EX overran the runway at Montgomery-Gibbs Executive Airport in San Diego while attempting takeoff, sustaining substantial damage. All five occupants were uninjured, but the aircraft was a total loss.

The NTSB's investigation found that the captain — the pilot flying — did not hold any valid pilot certificates at the time of the accident. His certificates had been revoked two years earlier after he was found to have falsified logbook entries and training records on 15 separate occasions while employed as a check pilot. He had also never held a type rating for the Falcon 900EX and had started but never completed the required training. The first officer had accumulated approximately 16 hours of flight experience in the make and model and was not authorized to act as pilot-in-command.

The NTSB determined that the crew attempted takeoff nearly 3,000 lbs over the maximum takeoff weight, with an incorrect trim setting, at a rotation speed 23 knots slower than required — on a runway 575 feet shorter than the required takeoff distance.

"Contributing to the accident was the captain's lack of proper certification and the crew's lack of flight experience in the airplane make and model."— NTSB Probable Cause, WPR21LA110

The owner had hired both pilots directly. There was no management company, no third party verifying credentials, and no one checking whether the crew was legally qualified to operate the aircraft they were flying. The NTSB's final report makes clear that a basic credential check would have revealed the captain had no valid certificates at all.