Hawker executive jet... snap rolled 3-4 times
It came from Mexico back to FXE, the captain that flew it back was a licensed Mexican pilot, no FAA licenses or ratings. Captain was hired as a contract pilot just for this trip. The co-pilot was from here and he was also just used as a contract pilot to get the plane back here. When they got back to FXE where the owner was waiting, of course they flipped out as the plane rolled into parking. The captain or the co- pilot had no idea YET of the damage that was caused. When asked, "What happened?" He apparently at some point said he made a hard landing. YET, the tires and gear were perfect. The FAA and insurance company had questioned them on what happened and they stuck to that story for 9 days. Finally, the co-pilot talked (good for him BTW). He said the Captain wanted to snap roll it...not aileron roll it....SNAP ROLL it like a Pitts. Supposedly it was done 3-4 times. By this time, when the co-pilot talked, the captain had gone back to Mexico. Not sure yet what the FAA is going to do with the co-pilot though. He'll probably get a pass, he was just flying with a lunatic captain.
They did roll it 4 times. What caused all the damage was when on the last two rolls, the pilot got scared and cranked the yoke back the other way to stop the roll and go back to upright. He got about halfway around and got scared and jerked it back real hard, that's what twisted everything, instead of continuing the roll in the original direction. What's funny is, he got scared on roll #3, then tried again and got scared again, so it was hardcore twisted two times.
Its being checked out. I heard it was very low-time and only a few years old. Not sure on that. I certainly wouldn't fly it after seeing what I saw, no way. Maybe someone with more accurate or detailed info can chime in.
Ripples are 1-2 inches deep and they run almost the entire length of the plane on both sides. The windows weren't level anymore when you stood back and looked at them. I heard it torqued so bad that the interior galley drawers and cabinets were jammed and wouldn't open. Don't know if that s true.
Different angle:
You can see the area just above the wing roots; they are rippled from leading edge to trailing edge. I can tell you, where the wings mate to the fuse, it's like ripple city and the rivets/screws looked like they were riding on waves. In between each window, the same ripples as the other side.
Spoke with the mechanics working on it today. Still actually not sure if it will fly again, they are still tearing into it. Found out yesterday that the right wing is history, bent beyond repair. You can actually see it up close, where the aluminum is actually stretched and separating at some points.
This wing is trashed and the wing root is twisted.
Hard to see here in the pic, but it's a very obvious wrinkle in the nose cone, right side. They haven't gotten to that part of the frame yet.
Left side was the worst. Windows may never be perfectly even.
The bottom of the tail cone area had a bend in it and some wrinkles. Empennage may be bent inside, still checking.
Engines were ok, pylons were ok, but a couple mounts are being replaced because of stress. They haven't even checked the airframe around the windscreens yet, that could be the deal breaker.
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