NTSB · Safety Recommendation
Safety Recommendation A-25-038
Recommendation
TO THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION: Require, as a condition of continued airworthiness, operators and owners of applicable Learjet models to comply with Bombardier Service Bulletins (SBs) A23/24/25-32-20, A28/29 32 21, A31-32-25, A35/36-32-29, A55-32-26, and A60 32 42. (Urgent)
Safety Issue and Context
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is providing the following information to urge the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to immediately act on the safety recommendations in this report concerning the potential for incorrectly attached main landing gear on certain Learjet airplanes to separate from the wing structure during landing. We identified this issue during our ongoing investigation of a fatal runway excursion involving a Learjet 35A, N81VN, while landing at Scottsdale Airport (SDL), Scottsdale, Arizona, on February 10, 2025.
Response History
December 8, 2025 · Recipient Response · FAA
-From Bryan Bedford, Administrator: Learjet responded to this accident by releasing the SBs referenced and requested the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issue an Airworthiness Directive (AD) to mandate their use. Through our established risk assessment processes, we determined in June 2025 that this subject did not need to be presented at a Corrective Action Review Board (CARB) and that mandatory corrective action was not the appropriate level of response. However, in response to these Safety Recommendations, we presented this subject to a CARB in November 2025 and determined not to mandate the SBs.
Instead, the CARB approved issuing a Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) that will recommend complying with the SBs, particularly for airplanes that have recently undergone maintenance of the main landing gear.
October 29, 2025 · NTSB Correspondence · FAA
As a result of the NTSB’s preliminary findings in this investigation, we identified the following safety issues: • Misassembly of the aft trunnion pin on Learjet main landing gear is not readily detectable during routine maintenance or preflight inspection, risking gear separation on landing. • Learjet maintenance manuals do not provide procedural guidance to verify proper positioning and secure engagement of the aft trunnion pin and retaining bolt during main landing gear installation. Accordingly, the NTSB makes the following safety recommendations to the Federal Aviation Administration, the first of which is urgent:
• Require, as a condition of continued airworthiness, operators and owners of applicable Learjet models to comply with Bombardier Service Bulletins (SBs) A23/24/25-32-20, A28/29 32 21, A31 32 25, A35/36-32-29, A55-32-26, and A60 32 42. (A-25-38) (Urgent) • Require Bombardier to revise the maintenance procedures for the applicable Learjet models to include a check of the position of the aft landing gear trunnion pin and retaining bolt, following maintenance on the gear that requires removal of the aft trunnion, to ensure that the landing gear has been correctly attached to the airplane wing structure. (A-25-39)
From report AIR-25-07 "Ensure Learjet Main Landing Gear Are Securely Attached":
We are concerned that without a requirement to perform the inspection procedures outlined in Bombardier’s March 7, 2025, SBs, Learjet airplanes may continue to operate with improperly assembled main landing gear, since the insecure attachment resulting from such misassembly is not readily detectable during routine maintenance or preflight inspections.
Given that installation of the aft trunnion pin without engaging its retaining bolt can result in the landing gear separating from the airplane during landing—thereby increasing the risk for loss of directional control and runway excursion—the NTSB concludes that a one-time inspection of certain Learjet models consistent with Bombardier’s March 7, 2025, service bulletins is necessary to prevent main landing gear from collapsing as a result of misassembly in which the aft trunnion pin retaining bolt is secured without passing through the pin.