Jet crashed seconds after take-off

On September 20th, 1990, an Omega Air Boeing 707 being delivered to the US Air Force crashed just seconds after take off at an army airfield in Arizona. The pilot died and two others on board suffered serious injuries. The jet was to be cannibalised by the air force for its engines and had already been stripped of essential flight instruments. Some 50 instruments had been removed from the cockpit.

The crash occurred just six seconds after take-off at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base at Marana, Arizona, after the right wing tip struck the ground. The jet burst into flames.

A spokesman for Omega Air said it was standard in such transactions for cockpit instruments to be removed by the parts broker selling the aircraft. The jet was due to go on a 45-mile trip. The cause of the crash was improper pre-flight planning by the pilot who died, the spokesman said. "The National Transportation Safety Board clearly stated that Omega Air was not responsible for what happened."

An inquiry by the US National Transportation Safety Board following the crash found that the probable cause of the accident was "improper pre-flight planning/ preparation by the pilot and his failure to use a checklist".

Related factors were: "the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) inadequate surveillance of the operation; the FAA's insufficient standards/requirements; the pilot's operation of the aircraft with known deficiencies; and his lack of recent experience in the type of aircraft". Following the inquiry the board recommended that the FAA develop minimum instrumentation requirements for large aircraft ferry flights.