In the 1960s, owning a Learjet was the ultimate status symbol for the rich and famous.
asserted
owning → own → rich
Frank Sinatra lent his friend Elvis Presley his Learjet 23 so the singer could slip from Palm Springs to Las Vegas for his 1967 wedding to Priscilla Beaulieu.
uncertain
singer → lend → Beaulieu
The Byrds closed their 1966 album Fifth Dimension with a song named after it, and Carly Simon even name-dropped the iconic plane in her 1972 hit You're So Vain.
asserted
You → close → hit
But the iconic private jet's glamorous reputation is now overshadowed by a devastating November 1 crash, when a Learjet 60 nosedived into a Palm Beach County neighborhood and killed all nine people on board.
asserted
Learjet → overshadow → board
The Bahamas-bound jet crashed in Greenacres at 12.50pm and erupted into a fireball that appeared to just miss homes.
asserted
that → bind → homes
About 600 people were evacuated from a nearby mobile home community.
asserted
people → evacuate → community
As investigators work to establish what went wrong, one aviation expert said the Learjet's reputation for speed and power should not be mistaken for a poor safety record.
asserted
reputation → work → record
'It's like a rocket ship,' Gary D Park, a Wichita-based aviation author who co-wrote a history of the Learjet,
asserted
who → base → Learjet
After watching footage of the Florida crash, Park said 'it looked like the tail feathers came off,' but stressed he did not know what had gone wrong and that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) would have to determine the cause.
Frank Sinatra lent his friend Elvis Presley his Learjet 23 so the singer could slip to Las Vegas for his 1967 wedding to Priscilla Beaulieu
Owning a Learjet quickly became the ultimate status symbol for the rich and famous
Despite the crash, Park maintained that the Learjet remains a 'good airplane' with a safety record that has improved sharply since its early days.
He does not expect buyers to turn their backs on it.
uncertain
buyers → watch → it
'They've had accidents before,' he said.
asserted
he → have → accidents
'Companies survived all that.
asserted
Companies → survive → that
People still like the airplane.'
asserted
People → like → airplane
Park said the name became so famous it turned generic.
asserted
it → say → ?
'Any time somebody saw a business jet, they called it a Learjet, no matter what it was,' he said.
asserted
he → see → it
While Park maintained that the Learjet remains a good airplane, aviation attorney and pilot Mike Slack offered a starkly different assessment of its handling in a stall.
asserted
Slack → maintain → stall
'It developed a reputation of a widow maker,' Slack told Chron.
asserted
Slack → develop → Chron
'Basically, it's a death sentence to everyone on board if they stall a Lear, particularly a Lear 60 which is the worst of them all in terms of propensity to stall,' he said, referring to the specific model that crashed on November 1.
asserted
that → stall → November
'Once that stall occurs in a Learjet 60…even an astronaut cannot recover that airplane.'
In a statement to a local NBC News outlet, Learjet manufacturer Bombardier said the company is 'deeply saddened' by the Florida crash and extends its 'sincerest sympathies to all those affected.
asserted
company → occur → those
'
'We cannot comment on the potential cause of this accident until the investigation is complete and we will fully support the investigating authorities and cooperate as needed,' Bombardier added.
asserted
Bombardier → comment → authorities
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bombardier for comment.
asserted
Mail → reach → comment
James Brown poses with his manager beside his new Learjet model 24A in about 1968
Elvis Presley peeks out from behind his wife, Priscilla, as the couple sit in a chartered jet after their wedding in Las Vegas
The Learjet's creator was Bill Lear, a self-taught inventor who left school after the eighth grade.
asserted
who → pose → grade
He had already given the world the car radio and the 8-track tape.
asserted
He → give → radio
Lear's big idea was to turn a failed Swiss fighter into a business jet.
asserted
idea → turn → jet
He liked the wing and landing gear of the Swiss FFA P-16, which had been abandoned after two prototypes crashed.
asserted
prototypes → like → P-16
He moved the project to Wichita, Kansas, in 1962.
asserted
He → move → 1962
The first Learjet flew nine months after work began, on October 7, 1963.
asserted
work → fly → October
It was certified on July 31, 1964, and the first customer took delivery that October.
asserted
customer → certify → delivery
The Learjet quickly made headlines for its high performance.
asserted
Learjet → make → performance
In May 1966, a Learjet 24 became the first business jet to circle the globe, covering 22,993 miles in 50 hours and 20 minutes of flying time.
uncertain
Learjet → become → time
Celebrities soon followed suit.
asserted
Celebrities → follow → suit
Sinatra's Learjet, named 'Christina II' after his daughter, logged more than 1,500 hours between 1965 and 1967 ferrying the Rat Pack between Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Palm Springs.
asserted
Learjet → name → Angeles
James Brown reportedly paid $713,000 for a new Learjet 23 in 1966, and is widely said to have become the first black American to own a private jet.
uncertain
Brown → pay → jet
The 'Godfather of Soul' said the plane let him squeeze eight days of work into a week.
asserted
him → say → week
Arnold Palmer, who learned to fly in 1956, was a pilot as well as an owner.
asserted
who → learn → 1956
In 1976, he flew a Learjet 36 around the world in 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds, a class record.
asserted
he → fly → record
Lear did not stay at the helm of the company.
asserted
Lear → stay → company
Gates Rubber bought about 60 percent of his company for $27 million in 1967.
asserted
Rubber → buy → 1967
Canada's Bombardier acquired it in 1990.
asserted
Bombardier → acquire → 1990
In 1974, the business-jet fleet had become the first to pass one million flight hours.
asserted
fleet → become → hours
A Learjet 55 set six time-to-climb records on July 7, 1983.
asserted
Learjet → set → July
…and 33 more, not listed.
The Aporia
