Flight Data Recorder Recovered From The Aircraft

The NTSB says that data recovered from the flight data recorder a Gulfstream IV jet that was involved in a fatal runway excursion at Hanscom Field in Bedford, MA Saturday suggests the pilot was trying to stop the airplane after reaching about 190 miles per hour.

NTSB lead investigator Luke Schiada said in a news conference at the scene Tuesday that the FDR indicates that the brake pressure was rising and the airplane's thrust reversers had been activated. “The thrust reversers deployed and the wheel brake pressures rose as the airplane decelerated,” Schiada said. “We’re also observing tire marks on the runway.”

But Schiada said he did not want to interpret the actions of the pilots to say definitively that they were trying to stop the plane. He did not say why the crew might have been attempting to abort the takeoff.

Seven people aboard the GIV were fatally injured in the accident.

Schiada said that, according to the Cockpit Voice Recorder, the crew called "rotate" and then there were "comments concerning aircraft control."

He did not specify what those comments were, and stressed that the information is very preliminary. "We still have a great deal of work to do," he said.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov