BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — The flight crew of a plane that crashed near Lansing in October had decided to perform a post-maintenance test themselves after the aircraft had undergone seven months of repairs, according to an aviation investigation preliminary report.
The plane went down around 5 p.m. on Oct. 16 in a wooded area in Bath Township, northeast of Lansing. All three people aboard died — the captain, co-pilot and passenger, who were all employed by the aircraft’s owner, Aerolineas del Centro.
Plane that crashed near Lansing took off from Battle Creek on test flight
The preliminary report, released by the National Transportation Safety Board, said the twinjet aircraft, a Raytheon Hawker 800XP, arrived at the Duncan Aviation facility at Battle Creek Executive Airport’s Kellogg Field in March. Multiple routine inspections were done on the airplane over seven months, including “the removal of the wing leading edges and TKS ice protection panels for a visual inspection for cracks and signs of corrosion,” the report reads.
After the leading edge inspection, the Raytheon Hawker 800XP’s manufacturer requires a stall test flight to make sure the plane is safe to fly, the NTSB says. A stall is when the plane is at a certain angle where it can not generate enough lift. Duncan Aviation workers reported to the NTSB that after the maintenance was done, they gave the flight crew’s captain a list of experienced test pilots for hire who could do the stall test flight…