National Transportation Safety Board Printed on : 11/19/2010 5:31:07 PM

Washington, DC 20594

Brief of Accident

Adopted 04/22/2010

CEN09LA116
File No. 26638 01/03/2009 Telluride, CO Aircraft Reg No. N279AJ Time (Local): 16:59 MST

Make/Model: Learjet / 45XR Fatal Serious Minor/None

Engine Make/Model: Honeywell / TFE31-20BR-1B Crew 0 0 2
Aircraft Damage: Substantial Pass 0 0 0
Number of Engines: 2
Operating Certificate(s): On-demand Air Taxi
Type of Flight Operation: Positioning
Reg. Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General Aviation

Last Depart. Point: Scottsdale, AZ Condition of Light: Day

Destination: Same as Accident/Incident Location Weather Info Src: Weather Observation Facility
Airport Proximity: On Airport/Airstrip Basic Weather: Instrument Conditions
Airport Name: Telluride Regional Airport Lowest Ceiling: 1300 Ft. AGL, Broken
Runway Identification: 09 Visibility: 2.00 SM
Runway Length/Width (Ft): 6870 / 100 Wind Dir/Speed: 250 / 005 Kts
Runway Surface: Asphalt Temperature (°C): -6
Runway Surface Condition: Snow Precip/Obscuration: Light - Showers - Snow

Pilot-in-Command Age: 42 Flight Time (Hours)

Certificate(s)/Rating(s) Total All Aircraft: 4800

Airline Transport; Multi-engine Land; Single-engine Land Last 90 Days: 55
Total Make/Model: 1038
Instrument Ratings Total Instrument Time: 389
Airplane

The airplane and two-person crew departed on a positioning flight. The pilot-in-command was not flying the airplane and sat in the right
seat. The second-in-command was the pilot flying and sat in the left seat. The accident occurred on the second attempt to land at the
destination airport on a snow-covered runway. While descending for the airport, the pilot not flying the airplane called the runway in
sight. After assessing that they were too high the pilot not flying convinced the pilot flying to circle the airplane down to land on the
runway. Circling at speeds greater than allowed by the approach categories, the crew performed a 360-degree turn to align themselves with
the runway. The pilot flying did not have the runway in sight, and was verbally assisted by the pilot not flying. Both pilots stated that
they were aligned with the center of the runway. During the flare to touchdown the pilot flying reported an unexpected gust of wind from
the left requiring a correction. The airplane touched down about 20 feet off and to the right of the runway edge. Substantial damage was
sustained to the airplane’s wing and fuselage.
Updated at Apr 22 2010 4:51PM
 Brief of Accident (Continued)

CEN09LA116
File No. 26638 01/03/2009 Telluride, CO Aircraft Reg No. N279AJ Time (Local): 16:59 MST

OCCURRENCES

Landing - Loss of visual reference

Landing-landing roll - Runway excursion
Landing-flare/touchdown - Landing gear collapse
Landing-flare/touchdown - Loss of control on ground

FINDINGS

Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Pilot - C

Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Monitoring environment-Copilot - C

Findings Legend: (C) = Cause, (F) = Factor

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The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows.
The failure of both pilots to positively identify the runway prior to landing.