Happened back in 1996. Read the report a long time ago but I was always a bit baffled about why it happened.
A recent article gives a further opinion...
" If you mention “Palwaukee GIV” to any Gulfstream pilots, chances are they will say the same thing: “Nosewheel steering switch.” Earlier Gulfstreams did not have any connection between the rudder pedals and the nosewheel steering. Steering control was strictly through a handwheel, or tiller, located on the captain’s left. Starting with the Gulfstream IV, however, pilots were given limited control through the rudder pedals as well as the handwheel.
Because older Gulfstream pilots objected to this change, the aircraft had a switch that essentially removed the rudder pedal interface.
On Oct. 30, 1996, a GIV pilot lost control of his airplane during a gusty crosswind takeoff and crashed at what is now known as Chicago Executive Airport, Wheeling, Illinois (KPWK). The crew of three and the sole passenger were killed. The loss of control was not inevitable, as conditions were well within the airplane’s capabilities. In this case, the nosewheel switch is merely a red herring; the real cause of the accident is still to this day widely misunderstood.
While some pilots who flew the airplane preferred the “Handwheel Only” option of the nosewheel steering system, both pilots on the accident flight preferred the “Normal” option. But neither pilot noticed “Handwheel Only” was selected. The NTSB cited the pilot for failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft during the takeoff roll and noted the nosewheel control switch as an additional factor relating to the accident. Hence most people reading the report attribute the crash to this switch. But they’re wrong.
Buried in the middle of the NTSB report, but not commented upon, is this: “The PIC tended to unload the nosewheel on the GIV during takeoff to make it easier on the airplane on rough runways.”
That airport, of course, does not have a rough runway and this technique ignores the important fact that the aircraft’s large tail acts as a weathervane in a crosswind. The airplane must be kept in a three-point attitude until rotation speed. The elevator may become effective before the rudder and unloading the nosewheel before rotation is not only a poor technique, it is contrary to Gulfstream procedure.
Other pilots in the flight department noticed this pilot’s technique of unloading the nosewheel. Had any of them had the expertise to know the flaw of the technique and spoken up, the accident could have been prevented."
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