Circuit City Citation Crash in Colorado

[Airbubba]

At Least 7 Killed in Colo. Plane Crash

Wednesday, February 16, 2005 1:05 p.m. ET

PUEBLO, Colo. (AP) -- A twin-engine plane crashed in freezing rain near the Pueblo airport Wednesday, killing at least seven people, officials said.

The Cessna Citation crashed just after 9 a.m. as it was approaching Pueblo Memorial Airport on a flight from Richmond, Va., said Mike Fergus of the Federal Aviation Administration in Seattle.

Pueblo County Sheriff Dan Corsentino told The Pueblo Chieftain eight people were on the plane and none survived. The FAA earlier said seven people died, and a spokesman couldn't immediately be reached to confirm the sheriff's report.

The plane was registered to Circuit City stores in Richmond, Va., and has a capacity of up to 10 passengers, Fergus said.

A spokesman for Circuit City, the nation's No. 2 chain of consumer electronics stores, said he had no information on the plane.

The National Weather Service reported low clouds, fog and freezing drizzle at the airport at the time of the crash.

[Astra driver]

Bad news, really sorry to hear that...

[hobie]

some Preliminary info at ASN ......

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20050216-0

[Airbubba]

N500AT shows departing Columbia, Missouri at 1409Z and arriving at Pueblo, Colorado at 1619Z, looks like this may have been the plane:

http://162.58.35.241/acdatabase/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=500at

[Ignition Override]

What instrument approaches are available at Pueblo?

[wes_wall]

KPUB is a nice airport - ILS 8L/26R is over 10000. Not difficult to get into.

[con-pilot]

Very sad and my heart and my best wishes go to the families.

This is the first turbo-jet corporate operated aircraft that has crashed in a long time. As in not a chartered aircraft.

By the way it was a flight of two aircraft going to California, the second Citation V landed in Pueblo right after the first company aircraft crashed, according to the reports here.

Tragic to all of those involved.

And what wes-wall posted is correct, I use to operate a 72 in and out of KPUB for many years.

[Flight Safety]

Inital speculation is that this aircraft was flown through freezing drizzle on approach into KPUB, and that the anti-ice system may have been overwhelmed. Severe icing conditions that can overwhelm the aircraft's anti-ice system, are a known issue with some Citation series, including this 560 (a Citation V). Here is a link to the applicable FAA AD, which called for changes in the limits section of the AFM (POM) for this and other affected aircraft series.

Citation 560 Icing - Airworthiness Directive (http://www.airweb.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guidance_Library/rgad.nsf/0/91DB3F9184A4783B86256A1F00669B60?OpenDocument)

[LGW Vulture]

It will be interesting to get the story from the crew on the preceding flight ! Sad news.

[av8boy]

From a decade ago, another 560...

NTSB Identification: CHI96FA067 .
The docket is stored in the Docket Management System (DMS). Please contact Public Inquiries
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, December 30, 1995 in EAGLE RIVER, WI
Probable Cause Approval Date: 7/11/1996
Aircraft: CESSNA 560, registration: N991PC
Injuries: 2 Fatal.
The airplane was circling to land on runway 22 after executing a VOR/DME approach. The airplane impacted the ground approximately one quarter mile northeast of the runway 22 threshold. The wreckage path covered a distance of approximately 350 feet. Control continuity was established. Airframe, engine and navaid examination revealed no abnormalities. The left wing and horizontal stabilizer leading edges had approximately one-eighth inch of rime ice adhering to their leading edges. Two witnesses reported seeing the airplane rolling from the left to the right. The Eagle River AWOS was not available on a VHF radio frequency, due to radio frequency congestion at the O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

the failure of the pilot to maintain airspeed while executing the circling approach. Factors were the descent below minimum descent altitude, the fog, the low ceiling and the icing conditions.

[His dudeness]

years ago, a swiss C560 crashed very short of the threshold of Augsburg (EDMA).
(All survived)
I can´t find a webbased report, but I remember meeting the CV pilot at FlightSafety Paris during my Citation initial. He told me in very clear words, what he thinks about the C560 Airfoil with residual Ice on it. I do fly a C560 as well, and I always put more than the books 7 knots on top of Vref when having residual ice, despite the fact I never had any troubles yet...

BTW is there an airframe able to cope with SEVERE ice ? I always thought no one asked for it during certification...

[TheShadow]

A. On the Citation 560 (and others of the same ilk) are the pneumatic boots always cycling at the same rate and with the same air pressure or will that rate fall off (increase/decrease) as engine RPM's go up/down - due to the variation in bleed air output?

B. Is there any tailplane anti-icing on the C560?

C. Will any wing-shed ice go anywhere near the engine inlets?

D. What flap setting would you use for a circling approach?

[His dudeness]

a) no difference what RPM the engines do...bleed output for the boots the same. (socalled 23PSI service bleed air is used)
Switch has 3 positions AUTO - cycles the tail first, then the wings (autotimer), OFF, MANUAL - Bleed air to all four boots simultaniously

b) no,just boots (deIcing)

c)Inner panels in front of the engines are bleed air anti-iced . . thus "shed Ice" won´t reach engines...if switched on in time (BEFORE ice accumulation).

d) circling´s usually done with flaps 15° on downwind and base, turning finals full flaps- there a four notches : 0° - 7°- 15°- 35°

BTW there was another C560 crash...D-CASH on finals to LOWS / Salzburg - as far as I remember Icing was at least one possibility mentioned...

[Check 6]

According to transcripts just released by the NTSB, cockpit voice recordings of the Circuit City Cessna Citation 560 (N500AT) that crashed in Pueblo, Colo., on Feb. 16, indicate that the two pilots tried to get rid of ice accumulation as they approached Pueblo Municipal Airport for a refueling stop. On descent, the copilot noticed ice on the leading edge, “not the real white ice like...yesterday, it’s more of a grayish,” he observed, adding “the descent accumulation comes a little bit different than the climb.” The pilot-in-command agreed: “A whole lot faster in the descent.” While the aircraft executed a vector around a regional jet, the copilot noted the ice had turned clear. “Open up those valves all the way,” said the captain. Cleared for the approach, the copilot noted, “Ignition is on with the anti-ice, now it’s on for sure.” Then the cockpit microphone picked up the warning, “Bank angle, bank angle...bank angle.” The Citation crashed four miles short of Runway 26R at PUB. All eight people on board were killed.