As it works with the NTSB to determine the cause of the crash of a Gulfstream G650 flight test airplane, the company has decided to temporarily suspend flight activities for the remaining four flight test articles. In a press release issued on Wednesday, Pres Henne, senior vice president for programs, engineering and test for Gulfstream, said “We are participating fully in the aircraft investigation and will only resume flying the G650 when we and the Federal Aviation Administration are satisfied it is safe to do so.”
The FAA also issued its preliminary report detailing what it knows about the crash. The G650, it said, was performing a take off with a simulated engine failure to determine take-off distance requirements at minimum flap setting. After it hit a wingtip on the runway and its gear collapsed, the airplane, according to the investigator, became fully involved in flames as it slid down the runway. It came to rest just 200 feet from the control tower, the report said.
