Investigations continue today into damaged wing that caused an emergency landing at Tampa International Airport Thursday evening

The damaged wing included Tamarack SMARTWING technology that was functioning normally during the incident. The pilot landed the plane safely after declaring an emergency. He remarked that the aircraft flew remarkably well and was readily controlled to a safe landing. The damaged aircraft is one of three CitationJets with the Tamarack winglet upgrade operated by the owner. The owner and pilot are talking with authorities, and further investigation will be conducted to assess possible damage to other areas of the aircraft before repairs are made to return the aircraft to service.

On Thursday evening the pilot declared an emergency as he experienced “bumps” while descending into the Tampa Bay Area and then saw the damaged wing tip. He followed standard procedure and slowed the aircraft while making a smooth approach and landing that was recorded by an airborne news helicopter.

The owner and pilot, who both requested not to be identified, said that he (the pilot) was of course concerned at first, the initial event got his immediate attention but when he got the airplane slowed, trimmed and established for his approach into TIA he said,  “I felt comfortable with the plane.” 

Initial investigations into the incident indicate some kind of external cause; and the undamaged winglet was functioning normally. Tamarack’s SMARTWING Active Winglet technology dramatically increases fuel efficiency, and  offers other key safety benefits.

President of Tamarack Aerospace Group Jacob Klinginsmith is extremely happy with the outcome of this incident. “We are obviously grateful that nobody was injured in this strange incident. We’re still investigating, but it appears that external factors caused the winglet to be ripped from the aircraft. Our certification and engineering process served this pilot very well because he was obviously able to control the airplane and make a very smooth approach and landing. During certification, we successfully flight tested a “one winglet removed” scenario simulating a birdstrike, lightning strike or any other abnormal event to the winglet, so we would expect the plane to handle as well as the pilot described.”

Tamarack works with new SMARTWING upgrade owners and operators and concentrates on all aspects of safe flying which is also featured in the FAA-approved WINGS Pilot Proficiency course about safe operation of the Tamarack upgrade. The course can be found at  Tamarackaero.com.