A sequence of non‑critical engine faults shut both motors and killed him

A sequence of non‑critical engine faults shut both motors and killed him A private jet carrying three men came down into a housing estate in Farnborough, England, on a clear working morning—not onto a runway, not onto open ground, but into streets where people lived. Investigators later found that every system failure which shut down both engines had been individually classified as non-critical. How does a series of faults that no single warning light thought worth flagging end up bringing down an aircraft? In this episode, we trace the career of David Leslie—five-time Scottish karting champion, Le Mans class podium finisher, and the engineer-driver credited with rebuilding two struggling touring car manufacturers from the ground up—through to the morning he boarded a test flight to France, asking how a safety system built to catch critical failures can miss the ones that combine to become catastrophic. Person: David Leslie Location: Farnborough, England Date: March 30, 2008 Case: the in-flight shutdown of both engines on a private jet, caused by a combination of individually non-critical system failures Status: all three men aboard died; the Air Accidents Investigation Branch found no single critical fault, only a sequence of non-critical ones - David William Leslie was born November 9, 1953, in Dumfries, Scotland, and To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com. © 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved. This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].