UPDATED: The Maverick Twinjet, 750TJ, has been
a fixture at airshows for the past couple years, even as the
company itself has changed hands and morphed somewhat.
Despite persistent controversies over the way this aircraft
has been described, marketed and publicized, the machine has
persevered. Mind you, it has had a few landing mishaps in the past,
detailed on these pages; but it has always proven itself a stout
bird, and repairs have been made to put it back into the air.
Friday evening, about 5:00PM, the Maverick seems to have run
into another problem, though; and this time, its luck seems to have
run out. Early reports from ANN News-Spies tell us
that the machine made a number of passes, at Melbourne
International Airport, FL, with obvious problems. The gear was
obviously trying to deploy, but the left main gear remained stowed
and unusable.
Eyewitness reports state that after a series of
passes and orbits of the field, the machine looked like it was
trying to line up for landing when "it just went in."
Things obviously got out of hand quickly, the bird crashed
and there was a fire. The plane crashed a quarter of a
mile northwest of the approach of runway 9L, on airport
grounds.
Official word has reached ANN that the pilot involved was
indeed, Jack Reed, 55, who was killed by the impact of the crash.
Reed was Maverick's VP of flight operations.
ANN's Kevin O'Brien spent some time with Reed and Maverick
Spokesman Bob Hoover at the 2002 AOPA Expo and remembered that, "I
met Jack at AOPA, where several present including Hoover (who has
apparently known him for years) praised his piloting skill." A
friend, Michael Lewis of AeroGroup Inc., noted that Reed
was a "seasoned pilot with decades of experience."
"He was a very nice man, very knowledgeable... He used to
fly a lot of hours on that plane."
ANN has learned that Maverick is involved in some
legal action with the original designer/builder of the Maverick
TwinJet. In its litigation, Maverick has claimed that there are
problems with the aircraft. We have not been able to ascertain
if those (claimed) problems have been fixed prior to recent
test flights or the demo flights that the factory has given to
prospective buyers. At least one aviation association (after
questioning by ANN) has expressed concern over the business
claims and practices of the company now offering the Twinjet in kit
form to the flying public. Recent attempts to get information from
the manufacturer have been met with "No Comment" responses and
immediate phone hang-ups. ANN has been preparing an in-depth
story on this aircraft, company and the controversy surrounding it,
for several weeks.
** Report created 1/27/03 Record
17 **
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 750TJ
Make/Model: EXP Description:
BORNHOFFEN TWINJET 1500EXP
Date: 01/24/2003 Time: 2200
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury:
None Mid Air: N Missing:
N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: MELBOURNE State: FL Country:
US
DESCRIPTION
ACFT ATTEMPTING A GEAR UP LANDING ON RWY 9L, CRASHED INTO
THE TREES APPROXIMATELY 1/4 MI NW OF APPROACH END OF RWY 9L, OTHER
CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, MELBOURE, FL
INJURY DATA Total Fatal:
0
# Crew: 1 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: Y
# Pass: 0 Fat:
0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk: Y
# Grnd:
Fat: 0 Ser:
0 Min:
0 Unk:
WEATHER: 33011KT 10SM FEW045 05/00 A3039
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase:
Landing Operation: General
Aviation
Departed: MELBOURNE,
FL
Dep Date: 01/24/2003 Dep. Time: 2130
Destination:
UNK
Flt Plan: VFR
Wx Briefing: U
Last Radio Cont: 1 NW MLB
Last Clearance: U
FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL
(SO15)
Entry date: 01/27/2003