Hawker Siddeley HS-125 incident near Ft Lauderdale, Florida, April 12, 1985
On April 12, 1985 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Hawker Siddeley HS-125, registered N888WK, suffered minor damage in an incident near Ft Lauderdale, Florida (Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 12, 1985 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- Ft Lauderdale, Florida · Ft Lauderdale-Hollywood · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Hawker Siddeley HS-125
- Registration
- N888WK · registry record · serial NA-704
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE PLT REPORTED THAT ON AN FAA CHECK FLT, THE NOSE GEAR WOULD NOT EXTEND. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT RECEIVED MINOR DAMAGE WHEN IT WAS LANDED WITH THE NOSE GEAR RETRACTED. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT A NOSE LANDING GEAR DOOR ROD ASSEMBLY HAD FAILED FROM FATIGUE & CAUSED THE NOSE GEAR DOOR TO JAM IN THE OPEN POSITION. IN TURN, THIS DISABLED THE NOSE GEAR SEQUENCING VALVE & PREVENTED THE NOSE GEAR FROM EXTENDING.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,200 hours in all; 600 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 5,850 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded; 0 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 24,800 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rolls-Royce VIPER 522 (turbojet); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PMP Pompano FL at 7:00 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 13, 6,925 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 5,000 ft
- Temperature: 75°F (24°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 8:47 pm from FLL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number MIA85IA147.