Stuck Yoke On Crashed Challenger?…

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Pilot Says He Couldn’t Raise Nose

The pilot of a Challenger 600 bizjet that ran off the end of the runway at Teterboro Airport claims both he and his first officer were unable to pull the control yoke back, keeping them from raising the aircraft’s nose and forcing him to abort the takeoff. And the pilot of a newer Challenger 601 that crashed off the end of a runway in Colorado in November reportedly said he too was unable to pull back on the yoke of the aircraft he was flying, resulting in the deaths of three people. According to The New York Times, the pilot in Wednesday’s crash, John Kimberling, told NTSB investigators that with the airplane at takeoff speed on the runway, he could only pull back the yoke about an inch instead of the normal three to four inches of travel.

>In Wednesday’s crash, one of the pilots is heard to say “discontinue takeoff” on the cockpit voice recorder before the thrust reversers were deployed and plane tore through a fence, crossed a highway and hit a warehouse. NTSB member Debbie Hersman told reporters the NTSB hasn’t reached any conclusions and hasn’t ruled out any factor that might have contributed to the accident. No one was killed and all 11 occupants of the airplane were able to free themselves from the wreckage. Nine others were hurt, including the passenger of a car hit by the plane, who is in critical condition with head injuries.

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