"NTSB Issues Urgent Recommendation on Learjet Landing Gear"

(Video excerpts showing the landing rollout to impact during a Feb. 10 runway excursion in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Source: NTSB)​

Main landing gear could separate on landing

WASHINGTON (Oct. 29, 2025) – The National Transportation Safety Board issued an urgent recommendation Wednesday to ensure main landing gear are correctly attached on certain Bombardier Learjet airplanes.

The urgent recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration would require operators of 10 Learjet models -- affecting 1,883 airplanes currently in service -- to comply with manufacturer service bulletins on landing gear maintenance. A second recommendation to the FAA would require Bombardier to revise procedures to include a post-maintenance visual check of the position of the aft landing gear trunnion pin and retaining bolt. In the absence of a required verification step, a mechanic could inadvertently install the retaining bolt without it passing through the trunnion pin, leaving the gear insecurely attached to the airframe. The misassembly is not readily detectable during routine maintenance or preflight inspections.

The recommendations stem from the investigation of a fatal Feb. 10 runway excursion in Scottsdale, Arizona. After touchdown, the Learjet 35A entered a left-wing-low attitude and began veering left, exiting the runway and striking a parked Gulfstream G200 jet. The left main landing gear separated during the accident sequence and came to rest on an adjacent taxiway. The Learjet’s captain was killed and the first officer and a passenger on the Learjet were seriously injured. An occupant in the Gulfstream was also seriously injured.

During the Scottsdale investigation, the NTSB learned of three prior events in which Learjet landing gear disconnected from the airframe because the retaining bolt was not engaged through the aft trunnion pin.

• On Oct. 4, 1995, the left main landing gear of a Learjet 25B airplane collapsed during landing rollout at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
• On Feb. 4, 2001, the left main gear of a Learjet 25B separated from the airframe shortly after touchdown at Saint Lucie County International Airport, in Fort Pierce, Florida, and the airplane skidded off the left side of the runway.
• On March 28, 2008, a Learjet VU-35A airplane operated by the Brazilian Air Force experienced a runway excursion after the left main landing gear collapsed upon touchdown at Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport in Recife, Brazil.

A Bombardier service bulletin issued after the Scottsdale accident asked operators of the affected Learjets to perform a one-time check to ensure landing gear are correctly attached. Only 12 percent of subject airplanes have been inspected, according to Bombardier.

(Left main landing gear at the Scottsdale accident site with inset diagram of the landing gear assembly (Inset source: Bombardier)

The NTSB issues urgent recommendations to address immediate, critical issues that threaten lives or property. The NTSB does not need to wait until the end of investigations to issue recommendations. Recipients have 30 days to respond.

Read the full recommendation report on ntsb.gov.

To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).