Investigators said Friday a former Obama-era official traveling on a corporate jet was fatally injured after pilots disconnected a system used to stabilize the aircraft, causing it to abruptly pitch up.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots were responding to several warnings in the cockpit of the Bombardier jet that diverted to a Connecticut airport March 3. They followed a checklist and turned off a switch that “trims” or adjusts the stabilizer, a control panel on the plane’s tail.
The plane turned nose-up at several times the force of gravity, then pointed lower before again turning upward before pilots could regain control, the report said.
Pilots told investigators they did not encounter turbulence as the NTSB had suggested in a preliminary assessment the day after the incident.
Bombardier, the jet’s Canadian manufacturer, said it is cooperating with federal investigators and has launched a probe of its own. It told The Associated Press it stands by its aircraft.
“Bombardier is deeply saddened by this tragic event,” the company said in a statement to FOX Business. “We extend our sincerest sympathies to all those affected by this accident.”
The Challenger 300 plane, operated by Missouri-based Conexon LLC, was traveling from Keene, New Hampshire, to Leesburg, Virginia, before diverting to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. Shortly after the in-flight incident, the crew was alerted to the medical emergency, and the pilot did not reengage the autopilot for the remainder of the flight.
The passenger who died, Dana Hyde, 55, was a prominent attorney who worked in both the Obama and Clinton administrations and served as counsel to the 9/11 Commission, according to her 2018 biography. Hyde was also a former CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. government foreign aid agency.
It was unclear if Hyde was belted in her seat or up and about in the cabin of the jet. She succumbed to her injuries later in the day at a Hartford, Connecticut, hospital.
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