The National Transportation Safety Board wants the owners of nearly 2,000 Learjets — which have long been associated with the rich and famous — to urgently inspect their landing gear to make sure they won’t collapse as happened in a fatal crash in February involving a private jet owned by Mötley Crüe singer Vince Neil.
The NTSB issued a report Wednesday saying the Federal Aviation Administration made a mistake in July when it decided not to require the inspections of the iconic private jets that were produced for roughly six decades. Many private companies and celebrities starting with Frank Sinatra and continuing up to Beyonce and Jay-Z have flown Learjets over the years although the plane has been eclipsed by Gulfstreams and other newer models since the last Learjet delivery in 2022. Bombardier ended production of Learjets so it could focus on more profitable models.
