A Learjet from Georgia left the runway upon landing at Morristown Municipal Airport on Saturday morning.
All four persons onboard evacuated safely, with no reported injuries, said Morristown Police Capt. Stuart Greer.
Firefighters and police from the town responded to the 11:20 a.m. incident, which shut down the airport.
The plane, which was flying from Fulton County Executive Airport near Atlanta, sustained “significant damage” as it left runway 23, coming to rest in a runway safety area, Greer said in a statement.
The wings separated from the aircraft, confirmed Corey Hanlon, a spokesman for Morristown Airport. He said the plane was a Learjet 75. The airport was likely to remain closed into Saturday evening, he said.
Greer said the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating what the airport classified as a “Category B runway incident.” The Federal Aviation Administration describes a “Category B runway incursion” as an incident where “there is a significant potential for collision,” requiring quick action.
Morristown Green has reached out to the NTSB for comment and will update this story as more information becomes available.
The aircraft in question is a Lear 45, not a Lear 75 as stated here.
The NTSB has not responded to requests for comment. The article states that the airport said it was a Category B incident. As the story indicates, this is how the FAA describes “Category B incursions”:
https://www.faa.gov/airports/runway_safety/resources/runway_incursions/#:~:text=Category%20B%20is%20an%20incident,response%20to%20avoid%20a%20collision.
This was not an incursion. It was an excursion. The NTSB did not say “incursion” but “incident,” which is right. Yet another example of journalists reporting on aviation but not understanding the terminology.