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Months before the aircraft veered off a runway in Arizona and
hit a business jet, killing one person, the same flight crew had
a landing issue with the Learjet in Oklahoma in June 2024. The
jet took a hard landing, causing both left main landing gear
tires to burst.
The pilot hired a mechanic to perform a hard landing inspection,
which prompted the removal of both main landing gear for the
inspection, according to the report.
Later that year, another mechanic noted that the left landing
gear took an “excessive” amount of grease, but nothing appeared
“unusual," the report said. The flight crew didn’t make any
radio calls indicating there was a possible problem with the
landing gear.
“That's kind of a red flag,” said Erwin Winkler, chief flight
instructor and director of maintenance at Tucson Flight School,
referring to extraordinary amount of grease.
The NTSB said the landing gear has disconnected from the
airframe in at least three other events because a certain bolt
was not properly engaged through a pin.
It looks like the pin, which the grease must flow through, might
have not been installed correctly, Winkler said.
The fatal crash killed 78-year-old Joie Vitosky, one of the two
pilots on board, according to the Scottsdale Police Department.
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