Accident
On 9 December 2012, a Learjet 25 business jet operated by Starwood Management LLC crashed near Iturbide, Nuevo León, shortly after departing Monterrey International Airport. The flight, chartered to transport Mexican singer Jenni Rivera and four other passengers to Toluca, took off at approximately 3:20 am local time. About 15 minutes later, while climbing through 28,000 feet, the aircraft entered a steep descent and vanished from radar. No distress call was received. The wreckage was discovered later that day; the aircraft had disintegrated on impact, and none of the seven occupants survived.
Aircraft
The accident aircraft was a twin-engine Learjet 25, US registration N345MC, serial number 25-046, built in 1969. It was owned and operated by Starwood Management LLC. In 2005, the same aircraft had experienced a fuel imbalance between left and right wing tanks during an incident, but no technical fault was found in the fuel system, and no injuries resulted.
Investigation
The Mexican Directorate General of Civil Aeronautics (DGAC) led the investigation, with assistance from the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) as the state of manufacture and registry. The flight data recorder was destroyed in the impact, and the cockpit voice recorder was never located. Radar data indicated a sudden loss of control at 28,000 feet, leading to a near-vertical dive with an impact angle of approximately 89° at a speed exceeding the aircraft's maximum operating speed.
Investigators noted that some flight crews had previously reported anomalous vibrations in the control column during cruise on N345MC. This led to speculation that a horizontal stabilizer failure might have caused the nosedive, but no supporting evidence was found among the recovered wreckage. The NTSB later conducted laboratory analysis on the stabilizer actuator and found no pre-existing damage or failure, stating that no factual data supported the stabilizer failure hypothesis.
The final DGAC report concluded that the probable cause was "loss of control of the aircraft for undetermined reasons." The report also found that the flight crew violated local regulations: the captain, aged 78, exceeded the maximum age limit for his role, and the co-pilot, aged 21, lacked a valid type rating for the Learjet 25.