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The death of Payne Stewart in 1999, just months after he won the US Open and weeks on from his role in the USA’s Ryder Cup victory, remains one of golf’s most heartbreaking tragedies.
At 42 years of age, the charismatic, flamboyant American was in the throes of a career renaissance, emerging from a long slump to win a long-awaited third major wearing his trademark plus-fours.
On October 25, 1999, he had just finished T11 in the National Car Rental Golf Classic in Florida and was en route to Houston for the Tour Championship when disaster struck.
He was one of four passengers and two crew aboard a private jet that depressurised shortly after takeoff from Orlando, incapacitating all onboard, and leaving the craft to glide for almost four hours and 1,500 miles across six states before it finally ran out of fuel and crashed with no survivors on a farm in rural South Dakota.
It was a tragedy that transcended golf. As he boarded the jet that morning, Stewart was the third highest earner in PGA Tour history, and had spent more than 250 weeks inside the world’s top-10, reaching a high of third. He was one of the game’s great characters.
He was also a happily married father of two young children.
What follows is a complete timeline of that fateful day.
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[All times ET]
6:30am
Pilot Michael Kling reports for duty at Orlando Sanford International Airport, followed by first officer Stephanie Bellegarrique around 15 minutes later. According to the Sunjet Aviation customer service representative on duty at the airport, both pilots were in a good mood and appeared to be in good health. A Sunjet Aviation line service technician subsequently stated that the captain asked him to pull the airplane – a Learjet 35 with the tail sign N47BA – out of the hangar, fuel it to 5,300 pounds fuel weight, connect a ground power unit to the airplane, and put a snack basket and cooler on the airplane. The plane is scheduled to depart for Orlando International Airport – around 15 nautical miles away – around 8:00am ET to collect three passengers before travelling onwards to Dallas-Love Field Airport, in Dallas, Texas.
7:25am
A flight plan is filed with the St Petersburg Automated Flight Service Station for the second flight of the day. It indicates that N47BA is scheduled to depart Orlando around 9:00am ET, follow a route over Cross City, Florida, to 32 degrees, 51 minutes north and 96 degrees, 51 minutes west, and then proceed directly to DAL. The requested altitude is 39,000 feet. The flight plan also indicates there will be five people on board – two pilots and three passengers – and four hours and 45 minutes of fuel.
7:54am
N47BA departs Orlando Sandford International Airport, arriving at Orlando International Airport at 8:10am.
8:40am
The passengers for the trip to Dallas arrive and board the plane. An additional passenger, who was not on the original flight request, also boards bringing the total number of people on board the airplane to six. The four passengers are reigning US Open champion Payne Stewart; his agent, Robert Fraley; Bruce Borland, an architect with the Jack Nicklaus golf design company; and Van Ardan, president of the Leader Enterprises sports management agency.
9:19am
N47BA departs for Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas.
9:21am
The flight contacts the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Centre (ARTCC) and reports climbing through an altitude of 9,500 feet to 14,000 feet. An ARTCC controller instructs N47BA to climb and maintain FL 260 (an altitude of 26,000 feet). N47BA acknowledges by stating: “Two six zero bravo alpha.”
9:23am
Air traffic control clears N47BA direct to Cross City and then direct to Dallas. N47BA acknowledges.
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9:26am
N47BA is issued instructions to change radio frequency and contact another Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Centre controller. N47BA acknowledges the frequency change.
9:27am
The controller instructs N47BA to climb and maintain FL 390 (an altitude of 39,000 feet). N47BA acknowledges by stating, “Three nine zero bravo alpha.” This is the last known radio transmission from the airplane.
9:33am
The aircraft has been airborne for 14 minutes and it has been six minutes and 20 seconds since it acknowledged the previous clearance. With the plane now at 36,500 feet, air traffic control instructs N47BA to change radio frequencies and contact another Jacksonville ARTCC controller. The message is not acknowledged. Over the next four-and-a-half minutes, the controller makes five more attempts to contact N47BA but with no answer.
10:52am
It is reported that the aircraft has been fluctuating between 22,000 and 51,000 feet, a behaviour referred to as “porpoising”. It is speculated that this is due to the autopilot having been engaged during the aircraft’s climb to its assigned altitude. A United States Air Force F-16 test pilot, who happened to be in the air nearby, is instructed by controllers to intercept N47BA. He finds the aircraft flying at an altitude of approximately 46,400 feet – more than 7,000 feet above its intended flight level. When around 2,000 feet from the plane, Colonel Olson makes two radio calls to the jet but does not receive a response.
11:00am
Colonel Olson begins a visual inspection of N47BA. He reports no visible damage to the aircraft, nor ice accumulation on its exterior. Both engines appear to be running and the rotating beacon is on. However, he cannot see inside the passenger section of the airplane because the windows appear to be dark. The entire right and left sections of the cockpit windshield are also opaque, as if covered by ice or condensation on the inside, whilst several sections of the centre windshield panel appear to be thinly covered by ice or condensation, with only a small rectangular section clear. Colonel Olson reports no flight control movement.
11:12am
Colonel Olson completes his inspection of N47BA and returns to Scott Air Force Base in southwest Illinois.
12:13pm
It is now almost three hours into the flight. Two Oklahoma F-16s, with the identification TULSA 13, scramble to intercept the aircraft by air traffic control in Minneapolis. The lead pilot reports being unable to see any movement in the cockpit.
12:16pm
The aircraft is presumed to have less than an hour’s worth of fuel remaining. The Northeast Air Defence sector reports that it will run out in the vicinity of Pierre, the state capital of South Dakota.
12:25pm
The lead pilot reports that the windshield of N47BA is dark and that he cannot tell whether or not the windshield is iced.
12:33pm
One of the TULSA 13 F-16s manoeuvres in front of N47BA. “We’re not seeing anything inside,” reports the pilot. “Could be just a dark cockpit, though. He is not reacting, moving or anything like that. He should be able to have seen us by now.”
12:39pm
The F-16s depart to dock with a midair refuelling tanker.
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12:50pm
The TULSA 13 F-16s return from refuelling and are joined by an additional two F-16s, with the identification NODAK 32. The four jets manoeuvre in close proximity to N47BA. Around the same time, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien authorises the Canadian Forces Air Command to shoot down the plane if it enters Canadian airspace without making contact. “The plane was heading toward the city of Winnipeg and the air traffic controllers feared that it would crash into the Manitoba capital,” he subsequently wrote. “I was asked to give permission for the military to bring down the plane if that became necessary. With a heavy heart, I authorised the procedure.”
12:57pm
The TULSA 13 lead pilot reports: “We’ve got two visuals on it. It’s looking like the cockpit window is iced over and there’s no displacement in any of the control surfaces as far as the ailerons or trims.”
1:10pm
The sound of an engine winding down, followed by sounds similar to a stickshaker and an autopilot disconnect, can be heard on N47BA’s cockpit voice recorder (CVR), which recorded the final 30 minutes of cruise flight. The CVR also captures the continuous activation of the cabin altitude aural warning.
1:11pm
Air traffic control radar reports N47BA beginning a right turn and descent. The NODAK 32 lead pilot reports: “The target is descending and he is doing multiple aileron rolls. Looks like he’s out of control…in a severe descent, request an emergency descent to follow target.” The Western Air Defence sector reports the Learjet is “spiraling through clouds at 4520N, 09855W.” The TULSA 13 lead pilot reports: “It’s soon to impact the ground. He is in a descending spiral.”
1:13pm
Three hours and 54 minutes after takeoff, N47BA crashes on a farm just outside Mina in Edmunds County, South Dakota. It is almost supersonic when it makes impact, leaving a crater 42 feet long, 21 feet wide and eight feet deep. All six occupants of the plane – four passengers and two crew – are killed.
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