Hawker Siddeley HS-748 accident near St Thomas, March 3, 1988
On March 3, 1988 at about 6:20 pm local time, a Hawker Siddeley HS-748, registered VPLVN, was substantially damaged in an accident near St Thomas (Charlotte Amalie airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under foreign airline rules (Part 129). No one was hurt; 14 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 accident. 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
- March 3, 1988 · about 6:20 pm local time
- Place
- St Thomas · Charlotte Amalie
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 14 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Hawker Siddeley HS-748
- Registration
- VPLVN · no longer on the register · serial 1538
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · foreign airline rules (Part 129)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE CAPTAIN OF AIR BVI FLIGHT BL-222 STATED AS THEY WERE WAITING FOR CLEARANCE TO TAXI, THEY ENCOUNTERED THE JET BLAST FROM AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 626 AS IT TAXIED FROM ITS GATE. THE RUDDER OF THE HS-748 WAS DMGD. THE AMERICAN AIRLINES AIRCRAFT WAS UNAWARE THAT ANYONE WAS DIRECTLY BEHIND THEM WHEN THEY STARTED TO TAXI.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 9,918 hours in all; 2,165 in this make and model; 148 in the last 90 days; 9,900 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 35,302 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, November 20, 1987
- Maximum gross weight: 44,000 lb
- Seats: 45
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Rolls-Royce 533 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: STT St. Thomas
- Destination: EIS Tortola
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 28, 5,358 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 008° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 30 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 84°F (29°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 5:55 pm from STT
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 11 |
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.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.