UPDATED: The Maverick Twinjet, 750TJ, has been a fixture at airshows for the past couple years, even as the company itself has changed hands and morphed somewhat.

Despite persistent controversies over the way this aircraft has been described, marketed and publicized, the machine has persevered. Mind you, it has had a few landing mishaps in the past, detailed on these pages; but it has always proven itself a stout bird, and repairs have been made to put it back into the air.

Friday evening, about 5:00PM, the Maverick seems to have run into another problem, though; and this time, its luck seems to have run out. Early reports from ANN News-Spies tell us that the machine made a number of passes, at Melbourne International Airport, FL, with obvious problems. The gear was obviously trying to deploy, but the left main gear remained stowed and unusable. 

Eyewitness reports state that after a series of passes and orbits of the field, the machine looked like it was trying to line up for landing when "it just went in." 

Things obviously got out of hand quickly, the bird crashed and there was a fire. The plane crashed a quarter of a mile northwest of the approach of runway 9L, on airport grounds.

Official word has reached ANN that the pilot involved was indeed, Jack Reed, 55, who was killed by the impact of the crash. Reed was Maverick's VP of flight operations.

ANN's Kevin O'Brien spent some time with Reed and Maverick Spokesman Bob Hoover at the 2002 AOPA Expo and remembered that, "I met Jack at AOPA, where several present including Hoover (who has apparently known him for years) praised his piloting skill." A friend, Michael Lewis of AeroGroup Inc., noted that Reed was a "seasoned pilot with decades of experience."

"He was a very nice man, very knowledgeable... He used to fly a lot of hours on that plane."

ANN has learned that Maverick is involved in some legal action with the original designer/builder of the Maverick TwinJet. In its litigation, Maverick has claimed that there are problems with the aircraft. We have not been able to ascertain if those (claimed) problems have been fixed prior to recent test flights or the demo flights that the factory has given to prospective buyers. At least one aviation association (after questioning by ANN) has expressed concern over the business claims and practices of the company now offering the Twinjet in kit form to the flying public. Recent attempts to get information from the manufacturer have been met with "No Comment" responses and immediate phone hang-ups. ANN has been preparing an in-depth story on this aircraft, company and the controversy surrounding it, for several weeks.

**   Report created 1/27/03   Record 17  **
IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 750TJ        Make/Model: EXP      Description: BORNHOFFEN TWINJET 1500EXP
  Date: 01/24/2003     Time: 2200
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: None     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
  City: MELBOURNE   State: FL   Country: US
DESCRIPTION
  ACFT ATTEMPTING A GEAR UP LANDING ON RWY 9L, CRASHED INTO THE TREES APPROXIMATELY 1/4 MI NW OF APPROACH END OF RWY 9L, OTHER CIRCUMSTANCES ARE UNKNOWN, MELBOURE, FL
INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   0
                 # Crew:  1     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   Y
                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   Y
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: 33011KT 10SM FEW045 05/00 A3039
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Landing      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: MELBOURNE,  FL              Dep Date: 01/24/2003   Dep. Time: 2130
  Destination: UNK                      Flt Plan: VFR          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: 1 NW MLB
  Last Clearance: U
  FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL  (SO15)                   Entry date: 01/27/2003

FMI: www.maverickjets.com