Accident Details
On July 31, 2008, at approximately 0945 central daylight time, East Coast Jets flight 81, a BAe 125-800A aircraft registered as N818MV, crashed while attempting a go-around after landing on runway 30 at Owatonna Degner Regional Airport in Owatonna, Minnesota. The airplane was destroyed by impact forces, and both pilots and six passengers were killed. The flight was a nonscheduled domestic passenger operation under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. An instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed and activated but was canceled before the landing. Visual meteorological conditions existed at the time of the accident.
Probable Cause
The probable cause of the accident was the captain’s decision to attempt a go-around late in the landing roll with insufficient runway remaining. Contributing factors included the pilots’ poor crew coordination and lack of cockpit discipline; fatigue, which likely impaired both pilots’ performance; and the failure of the Federal Aviation Administration to require crew resource management training and standard operating procedures for Part 135 operators.