Accidents
Naples Accident Docket Reveals Focus on Hung Starts
Crashed jet’s engine data appeared to mirror hung start characteristics
Challenger 604 crash data
The NTSB docket illustrated the final five minutes of the Challenger 604’s flight before the crash in Naples, Florida.

In an interview with Hop-A-Jet pilot Anthony Donato, who is also an A&P mechanic with inspection authorization, and analysis of historical data, the NTSB has documented a hung start problem in the engines of the Bombardier Challenger 604 that lost power and crashed on Feb. 9, 2024, in Naples, Florida.

According to the NTSB docket, 25 days prior to the accident, “a series of hung engine starts were recorded by the FDR [flight data recorder]. There were 10 hung starts in total between the two engines, with one successful start on engine 1 occurring during these start attempts.”