When Two Private Jets Collided During Takeoff and Landing at Houston Hobby Airport

October 24, 2023 — Hawker 850XP N269AA and Citation Mustang N510HM — Houston Hobby

Two business jets converged on intersecting runways at Houston Hobby. The Hawker was beginning a takeoff from runway 22 while the Citation Mustang was landing on runway 13R. The Hawker had been instructed to line up and wait, not depart. The two aircraft collided at the runway intersection, damaging both. Nobody aboard either aircraft was injured.

The NTSB found an unauthorized takeoff followed by cockpit distraction

The final investigation found that Hawker 850XP N269AA entered Runway 22 and began its takeoff without a takeoff clearance while Citation Mustang N510HM was landing on intersecting Runway 13R. The Hawker's wing struck the Citation's tail.

Airport Surface Detection Equipment-X detected the movement and generated a perceived-collision warning. The local controller instructed N269AA twice to stop and hold position, but the crew did not respond.

The Hawker crew recalled two cockpit events during the takeoff roll: a rudder-bias activation and an elevator-trim warning. The pilots adjusted thrust and pitch trim to clear the warnings. The NTSB found that these tasks likely distracted the crew and prevented them from recognizing the controller's stop instructions.

The final finding therefore combines the unauthorized takeoff with expectation bias and distraction. The event was not merely a communication misunderstanding: the aircraft entered the runway, began accelerating and continued despite controller stop instructions.

The Citation crew was already landing when the Hawker entered the intersection. The Hawker then continued its takeoff after the collision and returned for landing. The NTSB's final finding does not require speculation about a misunderstood phrase; it establishes that no takeoff clearance existed and that expectation bias and distraction contributed to the crew's continuation of the takeoff.

The airport surface-detection warning is also significant because it shows that the developing conflict was visible to the control system even though the Hawker crew did not respond to the stop instructions. The final investigation therefore had evidence from ATC systems as well as the crews' interviews.

“The takeoff by the flight crew of N269AA, without a takeoff clearance, which resulted in a collision with N510HM that was landing on an intersecting runway.”

Accident Facts

Timeline

Sources