IAI Westwind Training Crash Near Huntsville

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Key Takeaways:

  • Three men, including flight instructor Robin Gary Smith, were killed in the crash of an IAI Westwind II near Huntsville, Alabama, during what was reported to be a training flight.
  • The aircraft crashed after takeoff and burned, with William Bill Christopher and Kenneth Lynn Rousseau also among the deceased.
  • Smith operated Jet Contrails, a company that provided personalized, on-location flight training as an alternative to traditional simulator-based programs, supporting pilots through ground school to jet type rating.
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Three men are reportedto have been killed in the crash of an IAI Westwind II on the northwest side of the Huntsville, Ala., Airport Wednesday afternoon. The airplane appears to have been on a training flight, with flight instructor Robin Gary Smith of Yukon, Okla., and operator of the training company Jet Contrails, reportedly among the deceased. Also aboard were William Bill Christopher of Center Point, Ala., and Kenneth Lynn Rousseau of Harpersville, Ala. Rouseaus daughter, Roxane Drake, of Chelsea, Ala., said the family has heard the men were on a training flight. According to initial reports, the Westwind crashed after takeoff and burned.

Jet Contrails advertises initial and recurrent training for pilots who do not want to go away from home for two weeks, sleep in a motel, go to class all day, then at 3 a.m., sit in a simulator for two hours. It provides training in your aircraft, at your location, at your learning pace, without the regimented program that a simulator-based company will put you through. It goes on to say that a Jet Contrail instructor will be with you through ground school, through the flight training, through the oral, through the checkride and through the celebration after you have received your jet type rating.

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