NTSB report details last seconds before OSU to Naples Bombardier jet that crashed on I-75 in Florida

Tuesday the National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report on the jet that crashed and caught fire after its pilots attempted an emergency landing on a highway just outside Naples, Florida.

According to the report, while the cause of the crash is still yet to be determined, investigators are taking special care in examining the fuel and engines. The report also shed light on the last seconds of the flight before its crash.

The 68-foot-long Bombardier Challenger 600 had five people on board when it took off from Ohio State University's airport at 12:30 p.m. Friday on its way to the Naples Airport. It was scheduled for a subsequent departure to Fort Lauderdale.

It was filled with two pilots, two passengers, a crew member and 350 gallons of fuel, the report said.

Roughly six miles out of its destination at the Naples Airport, the plane’s crew contacted air traffic control and got the clear to land. However, as the jet approached its final turn to the Naples airport, within seconds of one another, both engines – first left, then right – sent warning signals to the plane. They were out of engine oil in both.

A third signal warned there was a problem with the engine, the report said. Then a fourth and final signal lit up in red: engine oil.

Twenty seconds later, the pilots radioed air traffic control again, the report said.  We have "lost both engines… emergency… making an emergency landing," the crew told air traffic control. The tower controller acknowledged the call and cleared the airplane to land.

“We are cleared to land but we are not going to make the runway… ah… we have lost both engines,” the crew replied.

Instead, they aimed for the southbound side of Interstate 75.

According to FlightAware's flight tracker, the jet plunged from 1,800 feet to the ground in just one minute.

By just 900 feet above ground, the plane was traveling at a speed of 115 knots, or roughly 130 miles an hour, the report said.

The report detailed their landing: The plane touched down on the pavement with its landing gear in the center lane and the right lane, then continued off the pavement on to the shoulder of the road. It collided with the western concrete sound barrier and exploded into flames almost instantly. Dashcam footage caught the final descent, landing, and crash.

Jim Hall, the former chairman of the NTSB from 1994-2001, called the preliminary report "very thorough.

“It’s important to note that both engines have been retained for additional examination as well as the fuel injectors and the fuel samples,” Hall said. “That doesn’t mean there might not be other issues that come up as they conduct their investigation, but those parts of the aircraft are going to get a close look as part of this investigation."

The plane, which crashed onto the highway at about 3:10 p.m, destroyed at least two vehicles in a fiery explosion: 2015 Chevrolet Silverado and a 2023 Nissan Armada SUV. One driver, whose car was hit by the plane as it landed, was injured, but survived.

Witnesses to the crash saw an explosion, smoke, and flames.

"All of a sudden I saw a lot of black smoke," said Naples-area resident Jinny Johnson said on the day. "It was pitch black. ... And then I saw flames."

As firefighters hosed down the plane, the smoke changed from black to gray to white.

Pilot qualifications, jet history examined

The jet was engulfed in flames after hitting the sound wall alongside the highway. Both the cabin and emergency exits were blocked by flames, the flight attendant told investigators. She and the passengers escaped through the baggage door at the rear of the plane, the report said.

Both pilots died at the scene of the crash.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office identified the dead as pilot Edward Daniel Murphy, 50, of Oakland Park, Fla., and Ian Fredrick Hoffman, 65, of Pompano Beach, Fla.

Crew member Sydney Ann Bosmans, 27, of Jupiter, Fla. and passengers Aaron Baker, 35 and Audra Green, 23, of Columbus, Ohio, survived the crash.

According to the preliminary report, Murphy held an airline transport pilot certificate, and was rated for single and multiengine planes. His most recent Federal Aviation Administration first-class medical certificate was issued on October 10, 2023, and his employer, Hop-A-Jet, reported he had accrued 10,525 total hours of flight experience, of which 2,808 hours were in the accident's airplane make and model.

Hoffman also held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single- and multiengine landings. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate was issued on September 26, 2023.

Hop-A-Jet reported he had accrued 24,618 total hours of flight experience, of which 138 hours were in the accident airplane make and model.

Inspectors examined the jet’s history, too. According to FAA and maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured in 2004 and was powered by two General Electric CF34 Series turbofan engines. It was last inspected January 5, 2024, at 9,763 total hours of operation, the report said.

Investigators examine fuel, engines

A few days after the crash, the NTSB moved the downed Bombardier Challenger 600-series jet to an undisclosed secure facility in Jacksonville for continued investigation.

The incident was at least the seventh fatal crash involving that series of Bombardier private jets since 2000.

Much of the agency's preliminary report focuses on the presence of fuel in the plane. When examined, the crash site reeked of jet fuel, the report said, indicating fuel was present. The left-wing fuel boost pump was not found. Fuel was also found in one of the two fuel lines when the engines were cut away for inspection.

Inspectors drained fuel from the plane for inspection. They examined exhaust nozzles, fan blades, main fuel control, fuel filters, injectors, and more. All appeared to be unclogged, and operating within normal parameters before the crash, the report said. The fuel showed no debris or anomalies.

While the report did not conclude what the cause of the engine loss and plane crash might have been, the NTSB announced it would retain the fuel and engines for further inspection.

While Hall, the former NTSB chairman, said he could not speculate on what the report would find, he said the fact that the investigation’s supporting staff were primarily from interested parties such as GE Aerospace, Hop-A-Jet, Bombardier and NTSB Canada was troubling, and indicative of low staffing levels at the NTSB.

Hall called for Congress to reauthorize federal funding for the NTSB.

“Congress needs to look closely at the funding of the National Transportation Safety Board in terms of the investigation of general aviation accidents," Hall said. "We see more jets being flown in private commercial service and staying on top of that issue is key. We continue to see now growth in these commercial aviation accidents and the board is not staffed as it was in the past to investigate these in the detail they need to be.”

According to aviation trial attorney Bob Clifford, who has handled private jet and commercial crashes since the late 1970s, the NTSB would engage engineers from General Electric and Bombardier to conduct their own inspections as they are experts on their engines and aircraft.

Clifford said the investigators would have to look into the cockpit recorder, black box, and even the position of all the switches in the cockpit.

“They’ll tear these engines apart,” said Clifford. He currently represents all the families in the Ethiopian Boeing Max 8 crash.

“What occurred here is extraordinarily rare,” said Clifford. “How do you lose oil pressure on two engines in a row? You don't lose oil pressure twice."

Kate Cimini is the Florida Investigative Reporter for the USA TODAY-Network Florida, based at The News-Press and The Naples Daily News. Contact her at 239-207-9369 or kcimini@news-press.com.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Naples I-75 plane crash update: NTSB report gives new details