N771DXIsrael Aircraft Industries 1125 WESTWIND ASTRA · 1995

On November 14, 2021, about 1315 Pacific standard time, an IAI 1125 Westwind Astra airplane, N771DX, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada. The pilot and passenger were uninjured. The airplane was operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported to the Federal Aviation Administration that he departed the North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), Las Vegas, Nevada, and remained in the traffic pattern during the flight. He said that the nose landing gear indicator light was intermittent when the landing gear was extended before landing. The pilot aborted the first landing and reentered the pattern for a second attempt.

Security video shows the airplane touching down with the landing gear fully extended with about 2,000 ft of runway remaining. The airplane’s thrust reversers were not deployed, and the airplane exited the departure end of the runway.

The examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane landed at about the 2,000 ft runway marker, skidded about 965 ft down the runway and into the runway safety area. The airplane traveled over a concrete culvert, separating the nose landing gear and main landing gear. The wings sustained substantial damage. The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was removed from the airplane and sent to the National Transportation Safety Board for download. The CVR unit had internal damage and did not record during the accident flight.

The owner of the airplane reported that there was a potential buyer who was interested in the airplane, and that he provided the names of two pilots who were type rated in the accident airplane to the potential buyer. The potential buyer gave authorization for both pilots to conduct the pre-buy flight. The first pilot reported that, on the day of the accident, the passenger seated in the front right seat was not a pilot, but instead was a friend of his family. The second pilot approved to conduct the flight was in Florida on the day of the accident.

According to the airplane’s type certificate, the airplane requires a minimum of two pilots for flight operations.