FAA Cites CG In Teterboro Investigation

The center of gravity was well forward of the allowable limit in a Bombardier Challenger CL-600 corporate jet that crashed last month in Teterboro, the NTSB said in an update released last week. A simulator programmed with the aircraft’s takeoff trim settings and weight and balance would not rotate for takeoff at the defined rotation speed, the NTSB said. A lawyer for Platinum Jet, operator of the CL-600, told The New York Times that the CG was no different than on many other flights (which might raise a few eyebrows), and would not have prevented the jet from taking off. Meanwhile, another Challenger CL-600 ran off a runway in Tupelo, Miss. , on March 9. The gear collapsed, but no one was hurt. The captain told the NTSB he was unable to move the control column aft to rotate. That airplane was heading for Teterboro. There were five passengers on board the Tupelo jet, plus two pilots. The aft movement of the control column beyond the neutral position felt as if it was locked against a stop, the pilot told the NTSB. Another CL-600 crashed in Montrose, Colo. , last November, killing three of the six people on board.