Miami

After takeoff from Alice Town, Bimini, the four engine airplane lost height and crashed into the sea. All four occupants were killed. It is believed that the crew was engaged in a drug smuggling flight.

The descent to Port-au-Prince-François Duvalier Airport was initiated by night. For unknown reasons, the airplane was too low and crashed onto houses located about 21 km from the airport. A passenger was seriously injured while three other occupants as well as three people on the ground were killed. For unknown reason, the crew as approaching at an insufficient altitude.

En route from Sebring to Miami, smoke spread in the cabin and the pilot decided to reduce his altitude and to attempt an emergency landing. On final, the twin engine airplane collided with rocks, lost its right main gear and crashed. Both occupants were injured.

The crew departed Miami-Opa Locka Airport on a local training flight. Few minutes after takeoff, both engines failed. The pilot-in-command ditched the aircraft few hundred yards offshore and the airplane sank and was lost. Two of three occupants were rescued while the instructor could not be located after departing the accident site.

En route from Barranquilla to Miami, the pilote informed ATC about an engine failure and elected to make an emergency landing when the airplane crashed into the sea off Saint Ann's Bay. Both occupants were killed.

Shortly after takeoff from Wakeman Airport, while in initial climb, the airplane nosed down, collided with trees and crashed in flames near the airport. The aircraft was totally destroyed and both pilots were killed.

After takeoff from Ellington AFB, while climbing, the crew informed ATC about technical problems with the right engine and elected to return for an emergency landing. The captain realized this was not possible and attempted an emergency landing along the I-45 highway. The airplane belly landed and slid for several yards before coming to rest. While both pilots escaped uninjured, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Coming from Miami, Florida, the crew elected to land by night in an open field located in Chimichagua. On final, the twin engine airplane struck the ground and crashed in flames. The aircraft was destroyed and all three occupants were killed.

Following an uneventful flight, the crew started the descent to Cockburn Town Airport, San Salvador Island. After touchdown on runway 28, the airplane was unable to stop within the remaining distance, overran and plunged into the sea. All 23 occupants were evacuated and the copilot was seriously injured. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

A Gates Learjet 24, N454RN, operated as a corporate flight by Machinery Buyers Corp., crashed following takeoff from runway 20L at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport, Atlanta, Georgia. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire. The two crewmembers and five passengers were fatally injured and one person on the ground sustained serious burns. An apartment building was damaged, three parked vehicles were destroyed, and another vehicle was damaged by impact and fire. The pilot had filed an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan from Atlanta, Georgia, to Miami, Florida, with a proposed departure time of 09:50 and an en route altitude of Flight Level 410. The flight was cleared for takeoff from runway 20L at 10:10. The weather at the time of the accident was overcast, with ceiling 500 feet, visibility 4 miles in fog and smoke, wind 060° at 4 knots, altimeter setting 30.20 inches. Ground witnesses stated that the airplane had made a normal take-off, but was trailing blue-white or blue-gray smoke when it crossed the airport boundary. The following conversation with the flight was recorded by the airport control tower:
Tower - "Lear 454RN it appeared the left engine laid a pretty good layer of smoke out of the left side there for approximately 300 or 400 feet."
454RN - "We just hit some birds."
Tower - "Roger, you turning to land?"
454RN - "Don't believe we're gonna make it." (Last transmission by the crew.
The aircraft climbed to a height about 250 to 300 feet above the ground before it started to settle in a nose-high attitude. The airplane collided initially with the roof of a three-story apartment building, approximately 2 miles south-southwest of the airport. The wreckage came to rest in a wooded ravine adjacent to a busy highway, 165 feet southwest of the damaged building. The airplane's takeoff path was over a residential area which contained numerous apartment complexes, shopping centers, and busy thoroughfares. A suitable emergency landing site was not available. The airplane's windshield and center post contained bird residue and bird feathers. After the accident, the remains of 15 cowbirds were found within 150 feet of the departure end of runway 20L. Both engines showed distortion and foreign object damage to the compressor rotor assemblies. Foreign material obstructed approximately 75 percent of the cooling air ports of the first-stage turbine nozzles.