COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO — While NTSB's official report remains in development the agency's investigation gave preliminary acknowledgement: "The Sport-Jet aircraft had no mechanical failures." The official statement from NTSB remains, "This accident is under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board. Progress of the investigation can be obtained from Jennifer Kaiser who is the investigator in charge for this accident."

The NTSB's comments concerning the aircraft are significant, notes Bornhofen, President of Excel-Jet, Ltd., as the aircraft had 25 hours of virtually flawless flight testing and had covered over 95% of the aircraft's stated performance envelope. "There has been a lot of speculation concerning the integrity of the aircraft and/or its systems and we can now move forward with confidence," Bornhofen observed.

"This was absolutely miserable luck," stated James Stewart, veteran test pilot and pilot-in-command of the accident aircraft. "I never saw any flashing danger lights in the process of getting to the runway and taking off." But this experience has not dampened his enthusiasm for the Sport-Jet. "I live today because the aircraft and its design allowed that to happen. I would absolutely love to fly the Sport Jet again," he added.

The Company is convinced that the NTSB final report will cite the cause of the accident as wake turbulence. "A Dash 8 turboprop took off prior to the Sport-Jet and every indication suggests that we were a victim of wake turbulence. However, until the NTSB reviews the tower tapes and other information, they can not issue a final report," said Bornhofen. This conclusion is supported by Gary Czajkowski, Vice President of Aviation Claims for AirSure Limited, a veteran examiner of aircraft accidents, who stated, "My examination of the scene, inspection of the aircraft and further research all point to the distinct possibility of wake turbulence."

A study of accidents involving wake turbulence shows a high level of fatal accidents from general aviation to airline. In fact, 29 accidents on file all include fatalities. Yet Sport-Jet's carbon fiber roll-cage cabin provided sufficient protection that the pilot and mechanic passenger were not injured. In further acknowledgement of the designer's foresight Stewart added, "The Williams FJ33-4A-15 powerplant remained in place due to the structure and strength of the engine mounting system and the design of the intake duct system. Not one drop of fuel spilled from the aircraft so there was no fire. The aircraft structure absorbed much of the energy of the aircraft as it impacted the runway."

Launch order customer Bob Stanford of Zenith Aviation stated, "We remain committed to our launch order for the Sport-Jet as we believe even more strongly in its many attributes. The proven crashworthy cabin reinforces what initial testing has shown, that Sport-Jet offers high performance in a simple-to-fly aircraft with an unusually large and occupant-friendly cabin."

President Bob Bornhofen elaborated, "The Sport-Jet's unique cabin and other crush zones did exactly as designed in protecting the occupants. No parachute system or second engine could have offered better protection. This type of incident is probably the worst any pilot will face and the Sport-Jet's design has altered the traditional outcome." AirSure's Czajkowski also supports Bornhofen saying, "I was extremely impressed with how well the fuselage remained intact under the tremendous forces imposed upon it during this accident." Test pilot Stewart echoes this sentiment, "This plane has got to get to market. Not only does it perform incredibly well; it saved my life!"

Excel-Jet's new Sport-Jet is a single engine cabin class 4-place personal jet aircraft aimed at the general aviation pilot. Sport-Jet has been designed for single-person operation by a pilot trained in piston-powered airplanes. Many advanced features and a simplified design ease pilot workload. "We have confirmation from the largest GA insurance broker in the U.S. that our approach will contribute significantly to the insurability of the aircraft when operated by nonprofessionals," reported Bornhofen. "We wanted to provide the GA pilot with a superior performance cabin class jet aircraft in a insurance-friendly platform. Our flight testing shows we are achieving that goal,"

Sport-Jet will sell for about $1 million, cruise at 340 knots at 25,000 feet (above 95% of all weather), and can carry four persons for more than 900 nautical miles in a surprisingly spacious cabin.

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