What happened
On September 3, 2025, an Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. Gulfstream G150, registration N1927G, was involved in an accident at Chicago Executive Airport (PWK) in Wheeling, Illinois. The aircraft was operating as a Part 91 positioning flight following a completed charter flight from Baltimore/Washington International Airport.
During the approach for the RNAV (GPS) runway 3/34, air traffic control reported the runway was 100% wet with a runway condition code of 5-5-5. The crew reported they intended to use a landing speed of 128 knots to account for gusting crosswinds. The pilot flying (PF) reported that the approach airspeed was high, leading to a touchdown further down the runway in the touchdown zone. Upon applying brakes and thrust reversers, the crew noted that the aircraft initially decelerated but then ceased to decelerate despite heavy braking and full thrust reverser application.
As the aircraft continued down the runway, it entered the engineered materials arresting system (EMAS) at the runway end, breached the airport perimeter fence, and came to a rest near a road. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and the nose landing gear collapsed. There were no injuries to the pilot or copilot.
The investigation
An FAA inspector confirmed the collapse of the nose landing gear and damage to the forward fuselage. The ground air brakes switch was found in the OFF position. Surveillance video and ADS-B data showed the aircraft porpoised approximately 2,100 feet down the runway and touched down approximately 2,800 feet down the runway, leaving about 2,200 feet of runway remaining.
Preliminary review of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) indicated that the crew did not discuss specific landing speeds, touchdown points, or the landing zone upon receiving weather updates. While the crew noted a need to slow down for gear extension, the before-landing checklist was not completed. FDR data confirmed that the air brakes were not deployed during the landing roll.