A prominent DC lawyer who died earlier this month after traveling on a corporate jet did not pass away from severe turbulence as originally reported.
Earlier this month, Dana Hyde, a prominent DC lawyer who served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations was killed while flying over New England in a business jet.
The business jet carrying five passengers made an emergency landing at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.
Hyde, 55, was rushed by ambulance to a hospital in Hartford, Connecticut on Friday where she was pronounced dead.
Hyde also served as a lawyer on the 9/11 commission.
The FAA originally reported the business jet hit severe turbulence, however an investigation revealed the pilots flipped a switch and disconnected a system used to stabilize the plane.
According to investigators, Dana Hyde died after the plane “turned nose-up at several times the force of gravity.”
Fox Business reported:
Investigators said Friday a former Obama-era official traveling on a corporate jet was fatally injured after pilots disconnected a system used to stabilize the aircraft, causing it to abruptly pitch up.
The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilots were responding to several warnings in the cockpit of the Bombardier jet that diverted to a Connecticut airport March 3. They followed a checklist and turned off a switch that “trims” or adjusts the stabilizer, a control panel on the plane’s tail.
The plane turned nose-up at several times the force of gravity, then pointed lower before again turning upward before pilots could regain control, the report said.
Pilots told investigators they did not encounter turbulence as the NTSB had suggested in a preliminary assessment the day after the incident.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration instructed pilots flying the same model of Bombardier aircraft to take extra preflight measures after trim problems had been reported. Trim problems can be responsible for buffeting or altitude changes.
Bombardier, the jet’s Canadian manufacturer, said it is cooperating with federal investigators and has launched a probe of its own. It told The Associated Press it stands by its aircraft.
