On June 7, 2026, a Gulfstream G200 crashed at La Romana International Airport in the Dominican Republic, killing both pilots. The twin-engine executive plane, registered in the United States as N318JF, was owned by Aibonito Aviation, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. had arrived in La Romana to refuel as part of a repositioning flight to Texas, USA, to pick up a private passenger. La Romana Airport It has a single concrete runway, 29/11, with a length of 2,950 meters (9,700 feet). The crew names have been released; Both were professional pilots with current type experience and medical examinations.
The flight took off normally from runway 11 at 15:30 local time / 19:30 UTC. ADSB data shows the aircraft climbing southwest to 8,400 feet. Approximately 16 miles from La Romana, the flight crew declared an emergency and were quickly cleared to make an emergency landing on runway 11. The aircraft initiated a left turn back to La Romana and descended to approach runway 11, but initiated a go-around, continuing past the airport. After circling northeast of the airport, the planes lined up to land on runway 29.
Videos of the landing show the plane deviating from the runway. The landing gear collapses and the left engine is knocked out. Then the plane burst into flames. Both pilots died in the fire and the plane was destroyed.
Warning: This video, which shows two different views from the ground, is difficult to watch.
It is difficult to find the provenance of viral videos at this stage. I’ve seen multiple accusations that the videos are AI-generated (is this the new “photoshopped look”?!). I can confirm that the multiple angles I have seen match and that the video matches media accounts.
YouTuber Capn Bloggs has uploaded two of the videos from anonymous sources which slow down to two frames per second.
The first video shows the G200 in the air with steam on the trailing edge. The G200 waste outlets are located between the aileron and the flapso the flight crew is likely to jettison fuel to reduce their landing weight.
In this slowed down version of the video, the windsock is clearly visible in the direction of travel, showing that the G200 landed with a tailwind that AVweb calculates 8.7 knots.
However, I have not found ATC interactions or official details on what the emergency could have been. local media They have reported an engine failure. FL360aero reports a hydraulic problem but it doesn’t give any source and it makes a mistake in the registry. Neither problem would make the aircraft unsafe to land; however, a hydraulic failure would result in degraded braking on the ground.
In the Dominican Republic, the Aviation Accident Investigation Commission (CIAA) is the investigative body in charge of directing the investigation; The United States represents the state of registration and Israel represents the state of manufacturing.
However, the Consejo de Capitanes (literally: Council of Captains, a think tank of Dominican-born captains working for US airlines) has called for the investigation to be led by the United States. Francisco Díaz, founder and president of the Council of Captains, has issued a statement (in Spanish) which refers to the new ICAO procedure according to Annex 13. This amendment to Annex 13which will come into force in November 2028, aims to address regulatory bodies’ concerns with conflicts of interest, specifically referencing the known problem of research reports simply never being published (I have several of these on my to-do list!).
Francisco Díaz writes that the CIAA has not yet published a final report on the case of the Gulfstream G-IVSP that crashed in the Dominican Republic in 2021. The preliminary report showed that the accident was caused by a maintenance error, in which the hydraulic lines of the spoilers were improperly connected, making the aircraft uncontrollable. It is claimed that the regulatory body in charge of the airline, the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation (IDAC), had received many reports of pilot maintenance problems before the accident. Francisco Díaz points out that the current director of the CIAA was, at the time of the accident, the director of the Dominican Institute of Civil Aviation, which would necessarily be part of the investigation.
So far, there is no statement from the CIAA other than that they are investigating.
