NTSB to Hold Public Hearing on Mo. Airlines Accident

The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a three-day public hearing on the 2004 Jefferson City, Missouri, accident involving a Bombardier Regional Jet operated by Pinnacle Airlines. The hearing will convene at 9 a.m. on Monday, June 13, at the NTSB’s Conference Center and Board Room, 429 L’Enfant Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 14, 2004, at about 2215 central daylight time, N8396A, a Bombardier CL-600-2B19 operated by Pinnacle Airlines (doing business as Northwest Airlink) flight 3701 crashed in a residential area in Jefferson City, Missouri, about three miles south of the Jefferson City, Missouri, airport.

The airplane was destroyed by the impact forces and a post crash fire. The two crew members were fatally injured. There were no passengers on board and no injuries on the ground. The flight was a repositioning flight from Little Rock, Arkansas to Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.

NTSB Member Deborah Hersman will chair the hearing. The meeting will focus on the following issues: Aircraft and Engine Certification, and Operator and FAA Oversight of Flight Operations and Crew Training. Expected to testify are witnesses from Bombardier Aerospace, Pinnacle Airlines, General Electric, and the Federal Aviation Administration.

An agenda for the hearing will be posted on the Board’s Web site when available. The hearing will be webcast on the Board’s Web site at www.ntsb.gov.