The German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) released a report detailing an instance where pilots conducted an unauthorized roll of their Bombardier Learjet 31A air ambulance aircraft. No one was injured when the pilots of the aircraft performed the maneuver with two company employees aboard near Faro, Portugal, on Dec. 28, 2018. But both pilots were fired as a result of the incident.
According to the BFU, the aircraft, which is operated by a German carrier, had taken off from London Biggin Hill on a flight to Faro. After about an hour into the flight, the pilot-in-command—who occupied the left-hand seat and was the pilot flying—asked the copilot if he agreed to fly a roll. The copilot maintains that he did not agree to such a flight maneuver. He further said, and flight data record data indicated, that the PIC had disengaged the autopilot at about 13,200 feet and flew the airplane manually. At about 11,500 feet, the aircraft entered two steep turns with a bank angle of about 140-degrees each, then the “PIC conducted the roll about the longitudinal axis of the airplane,” leveling off 10 seconds later.
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