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January 24, Melbourne, Fla. / Maverick Twinjet

At about 1700 eastern time, a Maverick Twinjet 1500 struck trees during a go-around at Melbourne Airport, killing the pilot. The flight had departed about 10 minutes earlier and the pilot reported a landing gear problem. He made a fly-by of the tower and controllers observed that one main landing gear was up, the nose gear and the other main gear was half way. The pilot retracted the gear and flew by the tower again, this time at 100 to 200 feet agl. The pilot notified the tower that he planned to do a gear up landing on the grass between a taxiway and runway 9R. He came around again at a low altitude, missed the intended landing area, and crashed into trees. ...

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Key Takeaways:

  • A Maverick Twinjet 1500 crashed at Melbourne Airport, killing the pilot, after reporting a landing gear problem.
  • Controllers observed an incomplete landing gear deployment during fly-bys, prompting the pilot to plan a gear-up landing.
  • The aircraft subsequently missed its intended landing area during the landing attempt and struck trees.
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At about 1700 eastern time, a Maverick Twinjet 1500 struck trees during a go-around at Melbourne Airport, killing the pilot. The flight had departed about 10 minutes earlier and the pilot reported a landing gear problem. He made a fly-by of the tower and controllers observed that one main landing gear was up, the nose gear and the other main gear was half way. The pilot retracted the gear and flew by the tower again, this time at 100 to 200 feet agl. The pilot notified the tower that he planned to do a gear up landing on the grass between a taxiway and runway 9R. He came around again at a low altitude, missed the intended landing area, and crashed into trees.

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