The South Dakota Learjet Crash | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror



“On the 25th of October, 1999, golfing icon and reigning US Open champion, Payne Stewart, boarded a private jet en route to his next big tournament in Texas…”

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CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
00:43 – Background
02:08 – The South Dakota Learjet Crash
07:21 – The Aftermath

MUSIC:
► “Glass Pond” by Public Memory
► “Dreaming Blue” by Sextile

SOURCES:
► “National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report” by Robert P Benzon, published by the National Transportation Safety Board, November 2000. Link: http://airsafe.com/events/reports/ntsb-stewart-report.pdf.
► “Twenty years after Payne Stewart’s death, questions linger about his legacy, both as a player and a man” by John Hawkins, published by golf.com, October 2019. Link: https://golf.com/news/features/payne-stewart-death-20-years-later/.
► “Payne Stewart Dies In Crash” published by CBS News, October 1999. Link: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/payne-stewart-dies-in-crash/.
► “A champion and a statesman – 20 years on, the tragic loss of Payne Stewart” by Iain Carter, published by BBC Sport, October 2019. Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/50153023.
► “New evidence: Payne Stewart’s plane lost pressure before crash” by Carl Rochelle, published by CNN, November 1999. Link: http://edition.cnn.com/US/9911/23/stewart.crash.03/.

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47 thoughts on “The South Dakota Learjet Crash | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror”

  1. I was at the Aberdeen airport that day. It was just after noon. I was outside or one of the hangers on the west end of the field, when I noticed three contrails in close proximity to one another.
    I had no idea what I was observing, as the plane fell from the sky.
    Just before the jet suffered complete fuel denervation, I noticed only a pair of contrails and, soon after, that the contrails made a 360 degree turn.
    I called a mechanic that was in the rear of the hangar to, "come out here…take a look at this." We couldn't make sense of what we were watching.
    About three minutes had elapsed when we noticed that there were two fighter jets (presumably the same two chase planes) were making circling patterns about three or four thousand feet above the ground, off to the southwest of the airfield.
    It was soon after that that the phone at the FBO started to ring off of the wall, ranging from Flight Service, to the FAA, to media outlets.
    R.I.P., to all on board.

    Reply
  2. I do have one item to add to this:

    TheFlightChannel covered this crash, and the video cited this: The investigation had identified a flaw in the Emergency Checklist that would have been available for the pilot & co-pilot (such as indication of cabin pressure loss).

    The instructions required troubleshooting to be done FIRST before donning oxygen masks. It is possible that the pilot & co-pilot both could have tried to troubleshoot the problem before donning their masks, but this is all speculation.

    So the crash served to have the FAA require all checklists revised so oxygen masks were donned FIRST before troubleshooting emergencies.

    Source: https://youtu.be/XQ5a3Q3Wg0M

    Reply
  3. Still a couple of variables in this one that would be interesting to know. Since the jets didn't see anything wrong like a window or door missing, it might have indeed been a slow loss of oxygen which would explain how it creeped up on everybody inside and once the alarm sounded, they were already beyond reacting to it. Did the emergency oxygen system on board work? Worst case scenario I guess would be someone in the back actually managing to get a mask on but not able to do anything else since the mask tethers you to your seat. How long does such emergency O2 last? But I guess if the alarm sounded too late, masks didn't drop yet anyway. If they even have a similar system to big commercial airplanes in that Learjet or you would have to get to the mask yourself.

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  4. My father was a golfer and a fan of Payne Stewart. Dad had also been a WWII Navy pilot. I remember the news broadcasts as it was happening. There was a small measure of comfort when he told me that they had died peacefully long before the plane crashed. I recall we both felt very glad when it eventually came down in a field without causing any further loss of life. A very sad day.

    Reply
  5. On August 14, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737,  suffered the same fate, killing 121 passengers and crew.  All onboard were either dead or unconscious when the plane finally ran out of fuel and crashed.

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  6. Regarding hypoxia: when I was in my early twenties, I obtained an approximately 3 1/2 ft. tall canister of nitrous oxide. My friends and I enjoyed filling balloons, and inhaling the gas after it had warmed up a bit. After a few weeks, finding ourselves without balloons, we discovered that you could just get your hit straight from the nozzle, as long as you didn’t have your lips too near the nozzle. One day, while alone, I decided to indulge. The usual way was to get a lungful, sit back, and enjoy the wah wah wah effect after exhaling. But, always the experimenter, I took one lungful, exhaled, then took another. There may have been a third. Unfortunately, the time I spent breathing nitrous with no oxygen rendered me instantly unconscious. I woke up on the floor an unknown time later, probably only as long as it took me to take the first couple of breaths of real air. My first thought was, “WTF am I doing on the floor?” Followed by the knowledge that the tank, now empty, was lying across my body. My foot was rammed through a framed picture that had been leaning against a nearby wall. The picture glass was broken, but fortunately, no cuts. I think my leg may have spasmed into the picture after I lost consciousness. I took the empty canister and disposed of it in a dumpster behind the local grocery store. The point of this tale is that consciousness was lost with no advanced warning, no distress, no panic. In my humble opinion, based on personal experience, this would be a very humane form of execution. Nitrogen gas would probably have the same results. The air we breathe is around 70% nitrogen, you wouldn’t know it was 100% nitrogen before you passed out, given the right application. The method would involve strapping the inmate to a gurney or a chair, and strapping on a mask. Introduce the nitrous, and the inmate passes out, unknowing. Keep the mask on until several minutes after all life signs are gone.

    Reply
  7. I first heard about this when my dad was watching a documentary on TV. He's a huge golf fan. It's always haunted me that a plane flew for so long with 6 dead people slouched in their seats. I couldn't imagine being in the places and realizing what probably happened and that there was nothing they could do. I also couldn't imagine being the family of the deceased being informed that your loved one had died but you won't be able to bury them I hope that they just became disoriented and didn't experience any panic.

    Reply
  8. this post may cause me to become a bit unpopular….i don't mind commercial airliners and freighters passing overhead, they must by law adhere to rigorous safety inspections and regulations, they don't fall out of the sky very often per million miles though when they do crash, it's usually quite tragic, and i am aware that human error is a factor.
    privately owned aircraft do not have to adhere to such stringent safety rules, and neglect can be rife amongst owners. i recall a friend's 85 year old father was going into dementia, and he still maintained and flew his plane. his eyesight was beginning to fail; he broke an engine mount landing at night at a poorly lit strip, demonstrating extremely poor judgment. when he flew into the no fly zone around Air Force One, he was not subjected to investigation of any kind. i truly do not like privately owned aircraft flying over my head, period.

    Reply
  9. what's that, you say?? The [cough-cough] 'socialist' UK regime exposed thousands of you to toxicity, rather than admit their water treatment facility effed up??
    What a goddam shock.
    The elites whom presume to rule over us 'little people' will NEVER be held to account. Not even if this incident rose to the levels of devestation seen after CHERNOBYL.
    Sorry, guys, but you KNOW its true.

    Reply
  10. It seems incomprehensible to me that ANY plane in 1999 wouldn't have a flight data recorder. For all we know, Paine Stewart might have been a victim of one of the other competitors at the championship where he was headed, but without a flight data recorder we'll never know for sure.

    Reply
  11. His wife is my customer and she is the nicest lady you could meet. Such a sad story. I never knew his backstory until I watched this and made the connection.

    Reply
  12. 2:50 yup, it looks like test flight f16.. why not put a mi8 pics, while you're at it?
    Sure, f15s dropping flares are perfect picturization of a comment "plane might be shot down"
    Another worthless content

    Reply
  13. So, ok, I can hold my breath for say, 45 seconds. I.e. no oxygen intake at all and about 45 seconds to do something about it. And I'm no major athlete.
    Why is hypoxia said to set in in only a few seconds? How does ceasing oxygen intake bring you down so much faster if it's on an airplane? I don't think it's the pressure; I've been similarly warned about FM200 fire suppression gas where I work.

    Reply
  14. How utterly awful. So sorry for them and their families and loved ones. The kindness of John Hoffman made me all weepy. What a dear man to remember them all so respectfully. I cannot imagine how helpless the other pilots felt, knowing all they could do was fly beside them until they died.

    Reply
  15. Something I’m surprised you didn’t mention as a major factor in the crash is that the Learjet’s checklist for cabin depressurisation didn’t mention putting on oxygen masks until several steps in, when it needs to be step 1, considering how hypoxia affects a pilot’s abilities.

    Reply
  16. The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: Incapacitation of the flight crewmembers as a result of their failure to receive supplemental oxygen following a loss of cabin pressurization, for undetermined reasons.

    As a pilot, and all pilots I flew with tested the quick donning masks as part of pre-flight and kept them mounted right behind their heads.

    Some reports highlighted poor maintenance practices at Sunjet and a history of issues with the aircraft’s pressurization system.

    In the wake of this accident I always advised people to thoroughly vet aircraft charter operations before you fly with them.

    Reply

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