A Sino Swearingen Aircraft SJ30-2 light business jet crashed during flight testing on 26 April, killing chief test pilot Carroll Beeler. The first production prototype - N138BF - was reportedly engaged in flutter tests when it crashed north of Del Rio, Texas. Beeler was the sole occupant.
San Antonio, Texas-based Sino Swearingen refuses to comment on the crash. The Texas Department of Public Safety says the aircraft was flying at Mach 0.9 at the time.
The previous highest speed acknowledged by the company was M0.83, which is the SJ30-2's maximum operating Mach number.
Sino Swearingen planned to use three aircraft in the certification flight-test programme, the second of which - serial number 003 - joined the test programme in March. The crash is likely to delay certification, but no date for US type approval has been announced since the company's Taiwanese backers installed new management last year.
The former head of Advanced Aerodynamics and Structures (AASI) Dr Carl Chen replaced Jack Braly last year as chief executive, after Sino Swearingen's Taiwanese investors agreed to provide the additional funding required to take the much-delayed programme through to certification.
Chen had been replaced as head of AASI when it acquired Mooney Aircraft and abandoned development of the single-turboprop JetCruzer.
Following the management change, Sino Swearingen said its backers are committed to funding the programme to complete certification and delivery of the SJ30-2. The original aircraft first flew in 1991, followed nine years later by the first SJ30-2 prototype.
Source: Flight International
