Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 crash, Apr 26, 2003 (1 killed), Lo...
Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 accident on April 26, 2003 near Loma Alta, Texas, United States with 1 fatality. Cause: The manufacturer's incomplete high-Mach...
- Date: April 26, 2003
- Aircraft: Sino Swearingen SJ30-2
- Location: Loma Alta, Texas, United States
- Fatalities: 1
- Phase of flight: En route
- Cause: The manufacturer's incomplete high-Mach design research. The airplane had a known speed-dependent roll tendency, and it became laterally unstable at high Mach, which the company's earlier analysis had not predicted.
The SJ30-2 test aircraft was being flown in a flutter test descent toward Mach 0.884 when it began to roll to the right. The pilot could not stop the roll, which continued for about 49 seconds and seven rolls until the jet hit the ground nearly vertically from about 30,500 feet. The pilot was killed.