NTSB issues urgent safety alert for 1,800 Learjets over landing gear risk
October 30, 2025
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued an urgent safety recommendation calling for immediate inspections of landing gear attachments on certain Bombardier Learjet aircraft, warning that an assembly error could cause the main landing gear to separate during landing.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the NTSB urged the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to mandate compliance with Bombardier’s service bulletins for 10 Learjet models, affecting 1,883 aeroplanes currently in operation.
The NTSB also called on the FAA to require Bombardier to revise maintenance procedures to include a visual verification step confirming that the aft landing gear trunnion pin and retaining bolt are correctly aligned after maintenance.
According to the NTSB, without that verification step, mechanics could inadvertently install the retaining bolt without it passing through the trunnion pin, leaving the landing gear improperly secured to the aircraft’s structure.
The mis-assembly, investigators warned, is not easily detectable during routine inspections or preflight checks.
Fatal Learjet 35 crash
The urgent recommendations stem from the investigation of a fatal accident on February 10, 2025, involving a Learjet 35A at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona.
A pilot was killed and three others were injured after the aircraft veered off the runway after landing at Scottsdale Airport and crashed into a parked Gulfstream 200 business jet.
Video reviewed by investigators shows the aircraft entering a left-wing-low attitude after touchdown, veering off the runway, and colliding with the G200.
The Learjet’s left main landing gear separated during the accident sequence and was later found on an adjacent taxiway.
The Learjet’s captain was killed in the crash, while the first officer and a passenger on board sustained serious injuries. One person inside the parked Gulfstream was also seriously injured.
The owner of the Learjet was named at the time as Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil. He was not on the aircraft.
NTSB links three prior Learjet incidents
During the Scottsdale investigation, NTSB investigators identified three prior incidents in which Learjet main landing gear had detached from the airframe due to improper installation of the retaining bolt. Those incidents occurred in 1995, 2001, and 2008.
In the 1995 case, a Learjet 25B’s left main landing gear collapsed during rollout at Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City.
Six years later, another Learjet 25B lost its left main gear after touchdown at Saint Lucie County International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida, causing the aircraft to skid off the runway.
A third case, involving a Brazilian Air Force Learjet VU-35A in 2008, resulted in a runway excursion at Recife/Guararapes–Gilberto Freyre International Airport after the left main gear collapsed on landing.
Following the Scottsdale accident, Bombardier issued a service bulletin directing operators of the affected Learjet models to conduct a one-time inspection to confirm that the main landing gear assemblies were properly attached.
However, Bombardier told investigators that only about 12% of the aeroplanes had so far undergone the recommended check.
The NTSB issues urgent safety recommendations only when an immediate hazard threatens lives or property. Such recommendations are intended to prompt swift action before an investigation is complete. Recipients of urgent recommendations have 30 days to respond to the board.
The FAA has not yet responded publicly to the NTSB’s latest recommendation.
Learjet 55 crash in January
The NTSB’s call follows an investigation earlier this year, which centred on a Mexican-registered Learjet 55 (registration XA-UCI), operated by Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which had been conducting a medical transport mission en route to Missouri when it crashed in Pennsylvania in January shortly after taking off from Northeast Philadelphia Airport.
The two pilots, two medical crew members and two passengers were fatally injured, as was one individual on the ground. A further four people suffered serious injuries, while 20 more sustained minor injuries.
The NTSB investigation found that the cockpit voice recorder (CVC) of the air ambulance Learjet 55 had “likely not been recording audio for several years”.
