On August 14, tragedy struck as former White House official Dana Hyde passed away while on a flight from New Hampshire to Virginia. She was with her husband and son on a jet when the aircraft diverted to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) revealed that the plane encountered severe turbulence because the pilots had switched off a system that keeps the Bombardier Jet stable. This led to a violent oscillation of the nose of the plane, subjecting the passengers to a force four times that of gravity.
The NTSB found that the initial takeoff was 'aborted' due to a plastic cover that was not removed from an outer tube that determines airspeed. This prompted the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to issue a directive to require additional safety checks on the Bombardier Challenger 300 twin-engine jet in 2019. Luckily, the pilot and co-pilot, as well as Hyde's husband and son, were not injured.
The tragic incident occurred as Hyde, her husband Jonathan Chambers and their son were returning from a trip to visit schools in New England. Hyde had worked in the Clinton and Obama White Houses and was counsel on 9/11 Commission. The NTSB report noted that the pilots on the plane began their takeoff mistakenly with a critical speed-measurement probe still covered, leading to different readings on two airspeed indicators. Further, an alerting system noted a “RUDDER LIMITER FAULT” which the pilots attempted to clear unsuccessfully. *
The plane continued climbing to about 6,000 feet when a barrage of additional alerts emerged, followed by the pilots consulting a checklist and turning the stabilizer trim switch on. This resulted in the plane abruptly pitching up and experiencing violent, uncontrolled movements which ultimately led to Hyde's death. The NTSB stated that the pilots were employed by Executive Flight Services and had accumulated thousands of hours of flight time overall. The plane was owned by Conexon, a rural broadband consulting firm in Kansas City, MO. *
The passing of Dana Hyde was remembered by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton, the former chairs of the 9/11 Commission, described as “everything anyone would want in a colleague”. Her untimely death serves as a reminder of the importance of taking all the necessary safety precautions during air travel.