Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

Editor-in-Chief

Matt Thurber

During takeoff from Robertson Field in Plainville, Connecticut, on September 2, a Cessna Citation 560XL impacted a powerline pole then crashed into a building, killing both pilots and the two passengers and causing serious injuries to one person and minor injuries to three people on the ground, according to the recently released NTSB preliminary report. The report further noted that the jet’s “parking brake handle…and the respective valve that it controlled, were both found in the brake set position.”

 


There were tire skid marks on the runway, and&nbsp;the flight data recorder (FDR) showed that the jet reached a maximum speed of 123.75 knots after departing the end of the runway. It had remained in a weight-on-wheels or on-ground state until beyond the departure end. The NSTB compared longitudinal acceleration values recorded during the final takeoff roll with those from two previous flights, and the accident flight values were lower (0.245 g versus 0.365 and 0.35 g). “Additionally, the time the airplane took to accelerate from 20 to 100 knots during the accident flight and the previous two takeoffs were 17 seconds, 11.5 seconds, and 12 seconds, respectively,” the report noted.

 


The jet’s FDR does not record parking brake valve position, according to the NTSB, “and the airplane’s takeoff configuration warning system did not incorporate parking brake valve position as part of its activation logic.”

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