Reading the NTSB’s probable cause and narrative of the Sept. 29, 2013 landing crash of a Citation 525A (CJ2) at Santa Monica Airport in southern California raises an issue I’ve never seen addressed in aircraft accident studies: passengers of the pet variety. According to the NTSB, in addition to the pilot and three passengers, “a large, red/brown-haired dog” and two cats were also on board. “None of the animals was restrained or caged.”
With all due respect for pet lovers and dogs and cats that enjoy flying in airplanes—and I know there are many—perhaps this accident illustrates some risks of carrying unrestrained pets. I see all the time here in southern California car drivers blithely zooming around with their pets sitting on their laps while driving. Somehow this doesn’t seem very smart. And not just because the driver could be distracted at a critical juncture, but because in all fairness to the pets, they are going to go flying if the driver jams on the brakes or gets into an accident.
Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.
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