It must have flown under a callsign, or else hasn’t flown in at least four months. Look it up; I’m on a mobile device and can’t link to the jet’s tracking page.
David Kidder, Gregg County fire marshall, and investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, Bombardier and Lear Jet are investigating the cause and origin of a flash fire to a Lear Jet 45 that occurred Wednesday at Aerosmith Aviation at the East Texas Regional Airport. A worker was burned and remains hospitalized today.
According to initial findings, the cause of the flash fire was a result of the right main landing gear strut exploding during a precipitation test on the jet.
According to Gregg County Sheriff 's Lt. Mike Claxton, the fire investigators said the precipitation test is an electrical check performed on aircraft to measure the ability of an aircraft to isolate itself from static electricity when flying through moist air.
Fire investigators told Claxton they believe that during the test, the right main gear strut failed and resulted in damage to the wing and fuel tank. That resulted in a leak of jet fuel that ignited a fire in the wheel well. The resulting fire and loss of integrity to the gear strut caused the plane to settle to the floor surface.
The burned worker, employed by Dallas-based Bombardier, remains in a Dallas burn hospital today, Claxton said. According to Kidder, the victim suffered burns to 25 percent of his body and was reported in fair condition Thursday morning.