Weather Included A Ceiling Of 200 Ft Overcast And 3/4-Mile Visibility

Location: Farmingdale, NY Accident Number: ERA21LA083
Date & Time: December 20, 2020, 20:35 Local Registration: N412JA
Aircraft: Raytheon Hawker Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Executive/Corporate

On December 20, 2020, about 2035 eastern standard time, a Beechcraft Hawker 800XP, N412JA, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at Republic Airport (FRG), Farmingdale, New York. The captain sustained minor injuries and the first officer was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 business flight.

The flight was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan from Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF), Opa Locka, Florida, to FRG. The captain was the pilot monitoring, and the first officer was the pilot flying. Both pilots stated that the flight to FRG was normal. As they approached FRG, air traffic control (ATC) vectored them onto the ILS RWY 14 approach. The weather included a ceiling of 200 ft overcast and 3/4-mile visibility, which was the weather minimum for the approach. The pilots briefed the approach, and the airplane was fully configured to land by the time they reached the final approach fix (FAF). Both pilots said that after passing the FAF, the FRG tower-controller reported that the visibility had deteriorated to 1/4-mile. The captain asked the first officer if he was “comfortable” continuing with the approach, and he said he was. The first officer said he was using the autopilot on the approach, the airplane was stabilized “on glideslope and on speed,” and he felt they could safely descend to minimums.

The first officer reported that the captain made the standard altitude callouts, and when they reached 200 ft, the captain announced “minimums, lights.” The first officer then looked outside, saw the “lead-in” lights, announced “continuing,” and returned to flying the airplane via instruments. As the airplane descended to 100 ft, the captain said the runway was to the left. The first officer said he looked out and saw runway end identifier lights, the red terminating lights, and only the end of the runway. The weather was worse than he expected, and it was as if a “black cloud” was sitting at the end of the runway. The first officer said the conditions were not “good enough for him” and hit the takeoff/go-around (TOGA) switch. He did not verbally announce that he was going-around, but the captain said, “Go-Around.” The first officer responded by saying “Go Around” twice, called for flaps 15°, and added full power. The first officer said the airplane never established a positive rate of climb and impacted the ground.

The captain said that as the airplane descended to 100 ft, it began drifting to the right. He told the first officer that he needed to make a correction; however, the correction was not sufficient to get the airplane realigned
with the runway centerline and he called for a go-around. The captain said the airplane pitched up in response to the TOGA switch, and he heard both engines spool up as he retracted the flaps, but the airplane did not climb. The airplane then impacted the ground, veered right, and spun before coming to a stop.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector, the airplane departed the runway environment about 2,000 ft down the runway, then traveled approximately 1,500 ft before coming to rest. The nose wheel and both main landing gear departed the aircraft and were found on the runway. There was no postimpact fire.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov