N4843W
New member
SE MI
- Aircraft Year
- 1977
- Aircraft Type
- 114
- Reg Number
- N4843W
- Serial Number
- 14173
So happy to see the Dale, family and pilots walked away from that crash. It appears they were very lucky. Maybe some of you who are who have been jet jockeys can illuminate this question. Here's what I don't get. I have flown into both Elizabethton and TriCities many times. They are 13 nm apart, or about 90 seconds in that Citation. So that is totally inconsequential. Elizabethton runway is 4500'. TRI is 8,000'. I looked it up and that bird can theoretically depart on a standard temp/pressure day in 3500', and land in 2500'. No pilot with a brain would try that and no insurance company would cover you, in fact, my local airport recently extended the runway from 3800' to 5,000' for one reason ... to attract jets and meet their insurance requirements. This Citation may or may not have had such minimum requirements but it's a great question. But 3 minutes away, TRI has an 8,000' runway, 150' wide. Go in there the same way and it would have been a long skid to a stop, but no fire. If that chain link fence ad blocked the door, this might have been an ugly multiple fatality. The distance from TRI to the Bristol Speedway is actually slightly less on the ground than the distance from Elizabethton to the speedway. So why the heck didn't they pick TRI in a jet like this? Was the fuel cheaper? This tight, that's a bad decision. Anyone have any clue why they'd pick Elizabethton over TRI? Maybe it will come out in the wash. Glad they are all safe.
