N815MA Citation 550 runs out of fuel . . .
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N815MA Citation 550 runs out of fuel . . .
No injuries as small plane touches down in Wilmington without landing gear
By David Reynolds
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 8:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 9:21 p.m.
A small jet with no fuel made an emergency landing at Wilmington International Airport ILM early Sunday, and the seven people onboard escaped without injuries, officials said.
The plane landed without its landing gear and slid along the runway before coming to rest in the grass at the end of the air strip, said Julie Wilsey, the airport’s deputy director.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “The pilots did a fantastic job of landing the aircraft under the conditions. It was very very foggy.”
The Cessna Citation landed at 2:20 a.m. after four failed attempts to land in thick fog, Wilsey said. The plane, which is a twin-engine jet, ran out of fuel during flight because of strong-winds and the added flight time taken during the repeated passes over the airport, she said.
In addition to two pilots, the plane carried a family of four and their nanny. The passengers were headed home to New York from a Christmas vacation in the Caribbean. The family hired the plane to fly from the Dominican Republic to Wilmington where they intended to pass through U.S. Customs before continuing on to an airport in Teterboro, NJ.
Since Wilmington International Airport’s air traffic control isn’t staffed in the early morning hours, the pilots communicated with officials in Washington, D.C. during the landing. Wilsey said she did not know the family’s full name. She wasn’t certain why the landing gear wasn’t working.
Emergency crews with the airport and the Wrightsboro Volunteer Fire Department were on hand for the landing.
Airport officials notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board of the incident, Wilsey said. Since no one was injured, federal investigators weren’t dispatched and the airport moved the plane from the landing site. The runway reopened before noon. In the interim, the airport stayed open by using it’s other runway.
Several hours after the landing, the parents and their two children boarded a U.S. Airways flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, Wilsey said.
“It’s really remarkable,” she said. “Everybody did everything right last night.”
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 815MA Make/Model: C550 Description: 550, S550, 552 Citation 2/S2/Bravo (T-47
Date: 01/04/2009 Time: 0715
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: WILMINGTON State: NC Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT LANDED GEAR UP AND SLID OFF THE RUNWAY INTO THE GRASS, WILMINGTON,
NC
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 7 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: VMC
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: GREENSBORO, NC (SO05) Entry date: 01/05/2009
By David Reynolds
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 8:58 p.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 4, 2009 at 9:21 p.m.
A small jet with no fuel made an emergency landing at Wilmington International Airport ILM early Sunday, and the seven people onboard escaped without injuries, officials said.
The plane landed without its landing gear and slid along the runway before coming to rest in the grass at the end of the air strip, said Julie Wilsey, the airport’s deputy director.
“It’s amazing,” she said. “The pilots did a fantastic job of landing the aircraft under the conditions. It was very very foggy.”
The Cessna Citation landed at 2:20 a.m. after four failed attempts to land in thick fog, Wilsey said. The plane, which is a twin-engine jet, ran out of fuel during flight because of strong-winds and the added flight time taken during the repeated passes over the airport, she said.
In addition to two pilots, the plane carried a family of four and their nanny. The passengers were headed home to New York from a Christmas vacation in the Caribbean. The family hired the plane to fly from the Dominican Republic to Wilmington where they intended to pass through U.S. Customs before continuing on to an airport in Teterboro, NJ.
Since Wilmington International Airport’s air traffic control isn’t staffed in the early morning hours, the pilots communicated with officials in Washington, D.C. during the landing. Wilsey said she did not know the family’s full name. She wasn’t certain why the landing gear wasn’t working.
Emergency crews with the airport and the Wrightsboro Volunteer Fire Department were on hand for the landing.
Airport officials notified the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board of the incident, Wilsey said. Since no one was injured, federal investigators weren’t dispatched and the airport moved the plane from the landing site. The runway reopened before noon. In the interim, the airport stayed open by using it’s other runway.
Several hours after the landing, the parents and their two children boarded a U.S. Airways flight to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, Wilsey said.
“It’s really remarkable,” she said. “Everybody did everything right last night.”
IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: 815MA Make/Model: C550 Description: 550, S550, 552 Citation 2/S2/Bravo (T-47
Date: 01/04/2009 Time: 0715
Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown
LOCATION
City: WILMINGTON State: NC Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT LANDED GEAR UP AND SLID OFF THE RUNWAY INTO THE GRASS, WILMINGTON,
NC
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Pass: 7 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
WEATHER: VMC
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Landing Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: GREENSBORO, NC (SO05) Entry date: 01/05/2009
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What a plonker. You should never get into such a position but if if you are about to run out of fuel you do a zero/zero landing what ever the weather is. Reminds me of the 707 that ran out of fuel near Cairo because of low viz.. The crew simply said their prayers until it crashed.
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But why clear customs in Wilmington???? I guess they couldn't make TEB fuel wise. Which leads me to the next question, 4 approaches in total. First approach is accounted for in the tripfuel. The second approach was accounted for in the alternate fuel. That leaves two approaches that had to be flown that were not calculated in the fuel planning.
How tight was their fuel planning?
I know this very brief accident report does not give any information ref. holding only longer flighttime due to strong winds, but still......
How tight was their fuel planning?
I know this very brief accident report does not give any information ref. holding only longer flighttime due to strong winds, but still......
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They probably landed in the most northern place you're allowed to without overflight permit, clear customs and then continue albeit I don't think the CE550 can make NY nonstop...
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Fuel Starvation on fourth approach
Two factors:
Flightwatch still had their flight on the screen when I searched under the n-number last night.
- It showed them flying at FL260, so it looks like they may have gotten stuck low (ATC, MEL, wind avoidance attempt, customer request??)
- The rules have a requrement to clear customs when first reaching the continent (unles other arrangments are made).
I flew a similar track a week earlier out of PLS. The routing, altitude and speed profiles are often different than optimum or requested.
The investigation will be interesting. Will this be done by the GADO office, or NTSB, insurance company??
R
Flightwatch still had their flight on the screen when I searched under the n-number last night.
- It showed them flying at FL260, so it looks like they may have gotten stuck low (ATC, MEL, wind avoidance attempt, customer request??)
- The rules have a requrement to clear customs when first reaching the continent (unles other arrangments are made).
I flew a similar track a week earlier out of PLS. The routing, altitude and speed profiles are often different than optimum or requested.
The investigation will be interesting. Will this be done by the GADO office, or NTSB, insurance company??
R
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Erm....am I missing something here? Surely they passed umpteen airports on their way to Wilmington? And then what, they got there, did 3 approaches, then went "oops, weather not so good, not enough fuel to go to an alternate, best land it" and forgot to lower the gear????
And this was a COMMERCIAL operation?????
And this was a COMMERCIAL operation?????
Looking at the aircraft recent history in flightaware they did the same trip back in october, all other flights were quite shorter, time-wise. Many times they landed in Florida for customs clearance.
I think that you need to give US Customs 1 hour prior-to-arrival notice, in my opinion they obviously got "target fixated" and hoped that they could make it work.
At least nobody got killed.
f
I think that you need to give US Customs 1 hour prior-to-arrival notice, in my opinion they obviously got "target fixated" and hoped that they could make it work.
At least nobody got killed.
f
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FlightAware > Live Flight Tracker > N815MA
ABG,
They were a couple of hundred miles off the coast, but obviously should have gone somewhere else. Their track is depicted on the above link.
I wonder if they got boresighted on an appointment with the KILM customs staff. If they had diverted to an alternate airport at 0200, would they have been stuck until a customs process was completed?
At my operation, on an international diversion, only the Captain can exit the airplane to attend to fueling, filight planning, inspections and maint. Then you can gas and go to the next airport.
If their 0200 appointment in KILM was missed, would they have had to sit until normal business hours with the two parents, two kids, and a nanny?
You could be right about RVSM or RNP. the A/C was a 1987 CESSNA 550 and the bottom of RVSM is often F280.
There is a discussion, complete with speculation, on the link above's forum. The short of it is, they used up their reserve fuel doing multiple approaches until the engines flamed out, and they left the gear up so they could stay on glideslope. Of couse this is pure speculation.
R
ABG,
They were a couple of hundred miles off the coast, but obviously should have gone somewhere else. Their track is depicted on the above link.
I wonder if they got boresighted on an appointment with the KILM customs staff. If they had diverted to an alternate airport at 0200, would they have been stuck until a customs process was completed?
At my operation, on an international diversion, only the Captain can exit the airplane to attend to fueling, filight planning, inspections and maint. Then you can gas and go to the next airport.
If their 0200 appointment in KILM was missed, would they have had to sit until normal business hours with the two parents, two kids, and a nanny?
You could be right about RVSM or RNP. the A/C was a 1987 CESSNA 550 and the bottom of RVSM is often F280.
There is a discussion, complete with speculation, on the link above's forum. The short of it is, they used up their reserve fuel doing multiple approaches until the engines flamed out, and they left the gear up so they could stay on glideslope. Of couse this is pure speculation.
R
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I think retire 2015 has the clue. Probably the lousy way US Customs treat people was high on his mind. "If I divert without having a customs facility pre-notified, I and my passengers are going to be seriously inconvenienced".
It is time US Customs are made to understand that they are not dealing with a bunch of criminals (most of the time)
I have started previous threads about how I feel about US customs. Once I landed in Cleveland on an Air Ambulance Flight. I was 2 hours late for the "appointment". Customs had gone home so I offloaded the patient and the crew went to a local hotel.We had done about a 16 hour duty day from the UK so we were pretty tired. About 4 hours later I got a phone call in my hotel room from Customs demanding I went back to the airport to report to them. I declined their suggestion and pointed out that he was violating FAA rules in disturbing my sleep and that I would report to him when I felt rested in about 12 hours time. The saga that ensued when I did report is another story, sufficient to say I do not go back the USA unless absolutely necessary.
What is it with these guys? And why are the really stroppy ones Mexican?
It is time US Customs are made to understand that they are not dealing with a bunch of criminals (most of the time)
I have started previous threads about how I feel about US customs. Once I landed in Cleveland on an Air Ambulance Flight. I was 2 hours late for the "appointment". Customs had gone home so I offloaded the patient and the crew went to a local hotel.We had done about a 16 hour duty day from the UK so we were pretty tired. About 4 hours later I got a phone call in my hotel room from Customs demanding I went back to the airport to report to them. I declined their suggestion and pointed out that he was violating FAA rules in disturbing my sleep and that I would report to him when I felt rested in about 12 hours time. The saga that ensued when I did report is another story, sufficient to say I do not go back the USA unless absolutely necessary.
What is it with these guys? And why are the really stroppy ones Mexican?
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from ainonline
A Cessna Citation II that ran out of fuel and landed gear-up early Sunday morning at Wilmington (N.C.) International Airport sustained “significant damage,” and the incident has been upgraded to an accident, according to an FAA spokeswoman. According to Randy Stevenson, an executive with Joda LLC, the financing group that owns the aircraft, the Citation sustained a punctured right wing and additional damage to the belly skin, the flaps and the left wing.
The aircraft is leased to Caribair, a Dominican Republic-based airline, Stevenson said, and was being operated under Part 91 out of La Isabela International Airport in the Dominican Republic. Seven people, including two pilots, were on board the aircraft at the time of the accident.
No injuries were reported. The pilot had made three unsuccessful attempts to land in fog before declaring an emergency while on the fourth approach.
An NTSB spokesman said the left engine shut down during the third approach and the right engine shut down during the fourth approach. The FAA spokeswoman did not know if the pilots had listed an alternate airport in the flight plan, but said that question would be part of the investigation.
The aircraft is leased to Caribair, a Dominican Republic-based airline, Stevenson said, and was being operated under Part 91 out of La Isabela International Airport in the Dominican Republic. Seven people, including two pilots, were on board the aircraft at the time of the accident.
No injuries were reported. The pilot had made three unsuccessful attempts to land in fog before declaring an emergency while on the fourth approach.
An NTSB spokesman said the left engine shut down during the third approach and the right engine shut down during the fourth approach. The FAA spokeswoman did not know if the pilots had listed an alternate airport in the flight plan, but said that question would be part of the investigation.
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H750,
Two comments:
To share my frame of mind with you, I "respectfully" consider customs agents as civil servents that carry guns. Changing countries is a serious step. Immigration, etc. They have some significant power. If things don't go smoothly, they can deport people and make them go back to from where they came. BTW, if your name is in their computer as a potential problem, subsequent entry attempts will not be effortless.
The duty day is a real issue. If you land at 0200 at an alternate and have to wait until customs becomes available after sunrise, you are probably not fit to fly onward. So you and your pax sleep on the plane until morning, then go to a hotel, then drag everyone back after a legal/appropriate rest period. All the while the pax are bitching they paid $xxxxx for this and the company is ??????
R
Two comments:
To share my frame of mind with you, I "respectfully" consider customs agents as civil servents that carry guns. Changing countries is a serious step. Immigration, etc. They have some significant power. If things don't go smoothly, they can deport people and make them go back to from where they came. BTW, if your name is in their computer as a potential problem, subsequent entry attempts will not be effortless.
The duty day is a real issue. If you land at 0200 at an alternate and have to wait until customs becomes available after sunrise, you are probably not fit to fly onward. So you and your pax sleep on the plane until morning, then go to a hotel, then drag everyone back after a legal/appropriate rest period. All the while the pax are bitching they paid $xxxxx for this and the company is ??????
R
H750
I strongly suspect, if you landed anywhere else in world from outside the country late, dropped off your pax or patients, and headed off to the hotel, being called from the hotel would be the least of your problems. A friend of mine did the same thing about 25 years and incurred a $10,000 fine. I intensely dislike US personnel and procedures, but your actions would not be acceptable anywhere. And I fail to see an FAR violation for being called out, yes, your rest period would have to "restart".
Looking at Flight Aware, FL 260 and CE550/U means, yes, non-RVSM and non-RNP, so 3+20 to ILM with 5 pax and three approaches is probably all a CII could do. Clearly KFLL would have been a better plan.
Like the headline, "landed without landing gear", that is an understatement
GF
I strongly suspect, if you landed anywhere else in world from outside the country late, dropped off your pax or patients, and headed off to the hotel, being called from the hotel would be the least of your problems. A friend of mine did the same thing about 25 years and incurred a $10,000 fine. I intensely dislike US personnel and procedures, but your actions would not be acceptable anywhere. And I fail to see an FAR violation for being called out, yes, your rest period would have to "restart".
Looking at Flight Aware, FL 260 and CE550/U means, yes, non-RVSM and non-RNP, so 3+20 to ILM with 5 pax and three approaches is probably all a CII could do. Clearly KFLL would have been a better plan.
Like the headline, "landed without landing gear", that is an understatement
GF
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Probably the lousy way US Customs treat people was high on his mind. "If I divert without having a customs facility pre-notified, I and my passengers are going to be seriously inconvenienced".
It is time US Customs are made to understand that they are not dealing with a bunch of criminals (most of the time)
It is time US Customs are made to understand that they are not dealing with a bunch of criminals (most of the time)
Is it really not possible to land, say in Miami - where immigration service should be available, especially when you otherwise might endanger your pax and yourself? I fully understand the airport of entry concept and there should be plenty enroute...(Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando,Atlanta...)
I´m looking forward to FSI Farnborough getting their sim running, then I don´t have to put up with the lunatic USA immigration/TSA anymore. A shame, I liked going to the US.
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hawker750
Slight thread drift here.
Yes agree with your post re the B707. I used to fly that route myself in the days of said accident. Luxor is not a good flight planned alternate for Cairo, especially coming from the South, although ops would insist on it. Without me bad mouthing the dead, we were always of the opinion that if "they weren't getting in at Cairo", then we would stay up there and proceed onto Cyprus. You have Larnaca, Paphos and Akitori, the RAF base if you are really stuck with no viz. If memory serves me correctly, Luxor then, did not have an ILS in those days.
Back on track then.
It is not a crime to have an accident. However it is a very much a crime if you run out of fuel. There is no excuse and you can expect to have the book thrown at you if you do!
The Captain still has 100% responsibility, however he now does not have 100% authority and that authority is dwindling by the day! In one company that I know of the Captain is only allowed to take FP fuel and no more! When my authority is erroded to that extent I will let myself go and either retire or find another job.
Slight thread drift here.
Yes agree with your post re the B707. I used to fly that route myself in the days of said accident. Luxor is not a good flight planned alternate for Cairo, especially coming from the South, although ops would insist on it. Without me bad mouthing the dead, we were always of the opinion that if "they weren't getting in at Cairo", then we would stay up there and proceed onto Cyprus. You have Larnaca, Paphos and Akitori, the RAF base if you are really stuck with no viz. If memory serves me correctly, Luxor then, did not have an ILS in those days.
Back on track then.
It is not a crime to have an accident. However it is a very much a crime if you run out of fuel. There is no excuse and you can expect to have the book thrown at you if you do!
The Captain still has 100% responsibility, however he now does not have 100% authority and that authority is dwindling by the day! In one company that I know of the Captain is only allowed to take FP fuel and no more! When my authority is erroded to that extent I will let myself go and either retire or find another job.
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KILM is a mandatory stop for flights from the Caribbean to the NE US. I think its flights departing south of 27N must stop in Wilmington for Customs. Has to do with Drug smuggling.
The only way around it is if crex,pax,(and i think A/C) are on a pre-approved list.
If the Wx was forecast to be bad at KILM they could have filed through Miami for example?
The only way around it is if crex,pax,(and i think A/C) are on a pre-approved list.
If the Wx was forecast to be bad at KILM they could have filed through Miami for example?
