NTSB Advisory
National Transportation Safety Board
Washington, DC 20594
September 25, 2000

NTSB TO RELEASE FACTUAL REPORTS ON PAYNE STEWART AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT

As part of its continuing investigation into the crash of a Learjet 35 aircraft (N47BA), which took the lives of professional golfer Payne Stewart and five others, the National Transportation Safety Board will open a public docket and release a series of factual reports at 11:00 am, on Wednesday, September 27, 2000.

The aircraft, owned and operated by SunJet Aviation of Sanford, FL, was on a flight from Orlando, FL, to Dallas TX, when it crashed in a field near Aberdeen, SD, on October 25, 1999. The aircraft was destroyed and there were no survivors.

The reports to be released are factual in nature and do not provide any analysis. They will include investigative group reports in the following areas - Operations and Human Performance, Airworthiness, Maintenance Records, Air Traffic Control, and Cockpit Voice Recorder.

Additional reports will be added to the docket as they become available. Analysis of the accident, along with conclusions and a determination of probable cause, will come at a later date when the investigators' final report is completed.

NOTE TO MEDIA: A press packet containing factual information on the accident will be available from the Office of Public Affairs, NTSB Headquarters (6th floor), 490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW, Washington, DC, beginning at 11:00 a.m., on September 27, 2000. Docket material also can be obtained from the NTSB's public inquiries unit by calling (202) 314-6551.

This will be a document release only; no interviews will be conducted.

Media Contact: Paul Schlamm Tel: (202) 314-6100, Fax: (202) 314-6110