I have 6 business jet type ratings. The Lear was fun to fly (what a climber!)–but a handful. There are all kinds of “gotchas” with the airplane that require pilot attention and compensation to fly it safely. As the first “purpose built” business jet, pilots had to fly the early Lears without benefit of good ground school or simulators. Most of these pilots were moving up from piston aircraft (there were no turboprops back then–Bill Lear opined “We’re going to skip that step”)
The accident record on the early airplanes was horrendous. Even today, many major corporations prohibit their people from flying on Learjets–though the new Learjets have little in common with the old. Bombardier was never able to eliminate the “Fearjet” stigma–though they tried. Lears are tough airplanes–they will be around for a long time–IF Bombardier keeps supporting them.