“The entire normal operating checklist for the new Embraer Phenom 100 light business jet fits on both sides of a laminated card that you can slide into a shirt pocket,” former Flying editor Mac McClellan wrote approvingly in his 2009 report on the airplane. “The Phenom is designed to cut pilot workload to a minimum so there is time to focus on the overall situation while the airplane and its systems take care of themselves.”
Aftermath: Failure to Focus on the Overall Situation
Key Takeaways:
- A Phenom 100 crash, which killed all onboard and three on the ground, was caused by a premature aerodynamic stall due to the pilot's failure to use anti-ice systems during an approach through icing conditions.
- The pilot selected an insufficient approach speed (Vref) likely to achieve a shorter landing distance, as activating anti-ice would have significantly increased the required Vref and resulted in a landing distance nearly matching the runway length.
- While the NTSB attributed the crash to pilot performance (omission of anti-ice), the article suggests a potential systemic issue where large anti-ice Vref increases and broad activation criteria might incentivize pilots to bypass safety protocols.
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