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Timeline: Fatal Crashes Involving Learjet Planes

The Learjet Model 35 is a small jet which seats 6 to 8 passengers and has been in popular use since 1973. Although the design's service record makes it "one of the safest in the sky," according to veteran pilot Gary Flaugher back in 1999, there have been a number of fatal incidents involving this model of plane.

May 15, 2017: Two people died when a Learjet 35A from Philadelphia reportedly clipped a utility pole on its decent into Teterboro Airport and crashed among warehouses in Carlstadt, N.J.

Nov. 9, 2014: Nine people died when a Learjet 35A, registered to Diplomat Aviation Bahamas Ltd., and chartered by Bahamas Faith Ministries International, clipped a crane and hit items in a shipyard while on approach to Grand Bahamas International Airport in Freeport, Bahamas.

June 23, 2014: Two Learjet 35 crew died following a mid-air collision with a German Air Force Luftwaffe Eurofighter EF2000 Typhoon jet over Elpe, Germany.

Nov. 4, 2007: Two Learjet 35 crew died after departing Campo de Marte Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The jet rolled and crashed in a nearby residential neighborhood, also killing six on the ground.

May 2, 2000: British Formula One driver David Coulthard survived a Learjet 35 crash that killed two pilots who were seated the front of the plane. The jet developed engine trouble and attempted to make an emergency landing after leaving Farnborough Airfield in England, bound for Côte d'Azur International Airport in France.

Oct. 25 1999: Professional golfer Payne Stewart, winner of 11 PGA Tour events, was killed after his Learjet 35 apparently suffered a loss of cabin pressure at during flight. U.S. Air Force jets followed the jet on its westward course, observing the windows had iced over with frost. The plane eventually ran out of fuel and crashed in Mina, South Dakota. Stewart and five others died.

Aug. 29, 1999: A Learjet 35 strayed off its intended course over Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia and moved deep inside an Ethiopian no-fly zone from Eritrea's airspace. Ethiopian military forces shot down the plane, killing two aboard.

Dec. 24, 1996: A Learjet 35A disappeared on Christmas Eve and prompted a three-year-long search for the plane and its two pilots. Wreckage was found three years later and prompted Congressional legislation on improving emergency locator transmitters.

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