The airplane was 60-314 and would be about 2 years old based on delivery schedules from 2007.
The last report that I got from an NBAA email indicates that the airplane did go airborne briefly, so flap and trim settings of the crashed aircraft may not be of any value for the Take-off configuration determination.
I personally prefer to use Flaps 8 when I have the runway for it. 20 will get you off the ground faster, but degrades 2nd segment climb. Flaps 20 was "mandated" by the Director of Learjet Flight Ops (and adopted by Flexjet on his sayso) in order to save wheels and brakes from a financial standpoint. There are multiple reasons for this, but the bottom line is that there is no "standard" setting. Either flap setting is acceptable according to design specifications as long as performance conditions in the AFM are met. I know this as fact because I was there at Learjet as a demo pilot when the airplane was certified.
There are very few composites on the LR60. Learjet found they did not save in weight, so they went back to metal. The gear doors were made of Kevlar at one time, but I do not think this is so now.
The Learjet 60 wing is the same wing as the Learjet 20/30/55 series with a 6 foot extension and a winglet added. No slats, no devices other than the stall kit devices/fences that help keep the airflow effective over the ailerons. The wing is critical. Polish the triangles (BLCD's) on the leading edge and you just changed the stall characteristics--requiring a factory test flight by a test pilot to re-certify. I've seen one late model airplane where the wing will stall and roll off PRIOR to any stall warning system indications because someone polished the BLCD's. It's that critical.
There are a number of things that I find odd about this accident. One is how the top of the airplane is gone, and the two survivors were apparently "thrown out".
For those of you wondering about a LR60's range and how they could plan KCAE-KVNY.... My personal record is 6 hrs and 21 min. coast to coast in the early LR60's which are much lighter than current production. (You won't get that range with 4 pax in a late model SN. If my customer was adamant about going non-stop, I would fuel to the max weight for the runway, file to VNY and try long range cruise. I would warn the pax that we will stop if it doesn't look good and the weather is not cooperating. This airplane has made fuel stops in GCK and SLN over the last couple of months according to FlightAware, so it doesn't look like the operator really did the non-stop coast to coast routinely.
I personally know the pilot, Sarah, and I am proud to say I tried to mentor her. VERY SHARP lady. Stanford graduate, fluent Spanish. She temporarily gave up her budding multi-engine pilot (& aerobatics instructor) career to follow her now ex-husband to a TSA job in the Northeast. With an FAA dispatcher's license in her pocket, she took a job with Bombardier Canadair/Learjet Flight Operations Dispatch in BDL. That's where I met her and she was GOOD at the job. However, her heart was in the cockpit, and watching pilots come and go daily made the longing to get back to her own pilot career even stronger. Bombardier's politics and changes forced her to make a choice and she took the chance we all take as pilots. She was called for an interpreter job for a Citation operator to go to South America. It was her big break and her first job in a jet. She took out a loan and paid for the Citation type rating when she got back. I know she spent at least 2 years flying Citations, and was offered a chief pilot position, but turned it down. About the same time one of my customers offered her a LR60 type rating to take a contract in Moscow on a 30 day rotation. She accepted it, and went to LR60 initial. The rotation job fizzled before she got to Moscow--due to internal problems within the management company and the Russian company. She then picked up a Citation VII type with Global Executive, and I believe she was flying SIC on a GIV in addtion to her type ratings. I last spoke to her in the May 2008 time frame. She was excited, things were going well, and the world was hers for the taking. She clearly no longer needed mentoring. HOW FAST THINGS CAN CHANGE.
Of course I want to know what happened and WHY as much as anyone. Sparks on take off. Probable maintenance issues just before the last flight.
All of you arm-chair quarterbacks/accident investigators, know this. The Achilles heel of the Learjet 60 would have to be it's wheels and brakes. This airplane was entitled to the triple brakes, but that does not reduce balanced field lengths if it did have them. IF you blow a tire at high speeds (V1 or close to it) you can take out the squat switch along with the tires.
No rubber left=brakes on asphalt=sparks.
No squat switch in ground mode on one side=no ground mode on airplane computers.
No ground mode=air mode.
Air mode=no brakes, no anti-skid, no spoilers, no thrust reversers. So, loose the squat switch from blown tire=emergency braking system is all you have left. Triple the stopping distance or more and that's after the shock of realizing you only have emergency braking.
8600 ft. rwy. where were they when it happened?
Looks to me like they were on or close to center line when they came to rest. Center line meant runway lights and antennas that opened up fuel tanks. Sparks + open fuel tanks....... BAD NEWS
I will miss the bright spot in my life that was Sarah. She may have been "low time" by some standards but the time she had was very very good. I will be VERY surprised if the final NTSB report says she screwed it up, but then let he who is the perfect pilot without errors, cast the first stone. Right or wrong, she paid the ultimate price. The fact that she broadcast "we're going off the end" to the tower tells me she had good situational awareness and was trying to alert the tower.
I don't know the other pilot or anything about him. I don't know who was PIC for the trip. Does it matter now?
BTW, of my 5 type ratings, the Learjet 60 is still my favorite airplane--even with its flaws. All airplanes have flaws. It's how we handle them and are aware of them that counts.