APRIL 2 5:45 PM ET: The Federal Aviation Administration has confirmed a Gulfstream G650 test aircraft crashed at 9:30 AM MT on its takeoff roll on runway 15 21 at Roswell International Air Center Airport in Roswell, New Mexico, killing all four aboard.
According to FAA spokesperson Lynn Lunsford, the aircraft had been out spending the morning – 2.5 hours – conducting brake testing when the aircraft had been cleared for takeoff. On the roll the aircraft had “just gotten airborne” when the right wingtip struck the ground, causing the aircraft to lose altitude, collapsing the gear, skidding on the runway and catching fire. (Update: Winds were 10kts and under at the time of the accident)
Two test pilots and two test engineers were onboard the aircraft at the time. Both NTSB and FAA investigators are enroute to the scene. Gulfstream is expected to release a formal statement on the accident shortly.
A source familiar with the accident says that N652GD was the airframe involved and was operating as Gulftest 31 at the time.
Additional updates are below the fold:
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This post originally appeared at Flightglobal.com from 2007 to 2012.