Fuel Exhaustion.. Citation II Crash

abrutus

abrutus

Well-Known Member
I didnt see it posted elsewhere.. so sorry if its doubled..
It seemed kinda interesting how the pilot aparently did not choose to fly to an alternate.. and starte runnning out of fuel at the 3rd try...
The are a lot of cuestions I have regarding this one.......


Fuel Exhaustion Cited in Citation II Crash
By Jennifer Harrington

January 6, 2009
Accidents, Business Aviation

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.
 
NTSB Identification: ERA09LA130
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, January 04, 2009 in Wilmington, NC
Aircraft: CESSNA 550, registration: N815MA
Injuries: 7 Uninjured.​

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On January 4, 2009, about 0200 eastern standard time, a Cessna 550, N815MA, was substantially damaged when it impacted the runway during a forced landing, with the landing gear retracted, at the Wilmington International Airport (KILM), Wilmington, North Carolina. The airplane departed the La Isabela Airport (MDJB), Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, on January 3, 2009, about 2300. The certificated airline transport pilot captain, certificated commercial pilot first officer, and five passengers received no injuries. The personal flight was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and an instrument flight rule (IFR) flight plan was filed for the international flight.

The airplane was examined by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident site. The airplane received skin damage to the underside of the fuselage and several puncture holes into the pressure vessel. The pilot reported to the FAA inspector on scene, as well as to a National Transportation Safety Board investigator, that they had "ran out of fuel." They had attempted three instrument landing system (ILS) approaches to runway 24, however due to the fog at the airport they were unable to see the runway environment. On the third missed approach the No. 1 engine shut down and the pilots requested a vector from air traffic control (ATC) for another approach to KILM. The pilot stated to ATC that they were low on fuel. While being vectored for the fourth approach, the No. 2 engine shut down and the pilots requested an immediate turn to the airport; they were able to locate the center of the airport on their global positioning system (GPS) and "aimed the airplane at the intersection of the runways." Approximately 50 feet above ground level (agl), the pilots saw a row of lights, paralleled the lights, landed gear up on the departure end of runway 6, overran the runway, and impacted several light stands for runway 24, coming to rest 2,242 feet past the point of the initial touchdown.

The accident airplane was manufactured in 1982 and issued an airworthiness certificate on May 20, 1982. The airplane was equipped with two Pratt and Whitney JT15D-4 Series turbofan engines.

The 0153 weather observation at KILM, reported winds from 020 degrees at 3 knots, a broken cloud layer at 100 feet agl, an overcast cloud layer at 500 feet agl, 1/2 mile visibility, temperature 11 degrees Celsius (C), dew point 10 degrees C, and an altimeter setting of 30.14 inches of mercury.

The airplane has been retained by the National Transportation Safety Board for further examination.

Index for Jan2009 | Index of months
Click to expand...

http://204.108.4.16/d-tpp/0901/00459IL24.PDF

? on the approach plate. there is a remark that states "straight-in mins NA at night when control tower is closed." This accident was at 0200 and I am guessing the tower was closed. Would they revert back to circling mins at that point? The circling mins are 560/1 for A&B, 560/1.5 for C, and 640/2 for D. Looking at the wx in the report and the mins in the plate it looks like they may have went below mins. This should be an interesting report to see.
 
JEP said:
? on the approach plate. there is a remark that states "straight-in mins NA at night when control tower is closed." This accident was at 0200 and I am guessing the tower was closed. Would they revert back to circling mins at that point? The circling mins are 560/1 for A&B, 560/1.5 for C, and 640/2 for D. Looking at the wx in the report and the mins in the plate it looks like they may have went below mins. This should be an interesting report to see.
Click to expand...

Very interesting observation. I've never seen that particular limitation before. 24 has approach lighting and everything. The ILS on the other side does not have the straight-in NA limitation, although it does not have the same approach lighting system. Perhaps the approach lights aren't on when the tower is closed/aren't pilot controlled?

All this said I'm amazed they couldn't get that airplane on the ground safely.

Another thing, is customs open 24 hours a day at ILM?
 
You would think after 2 approaches, you would be looking at the fuel and thinking.. "hmmmmm, I think it's time to go somewhere else...."
 
One similar accident occured in 2001. I had cancelled my flight that morning due to fog and had left the airport when I heard on the scanner that a Cessna 340 was on the VOR app. No way, I thought.

The pilot made 2 attempts and went missed each time although on the 2nd app he did see some of the rwy but was too high to land. Encouraged, he came around a 3rd time but a bit lower. He clipped the main gear on a fence 400' before the threshold and balled it up. The pilot and a passenger died. The sole survivor was a pvt pilot rated passenger in the right seat.

The reason the pilot wanted to land at that airport and not divert to a fairly close Class C was because the passenger's husband was waiting there and the pilot wanted to avoid the hassle of the husband driving to to the other airport. The NTSB was able to show that on the last app the pilot had flown between two trees some distance from the rwy.

Gethereitis, invincibility, complacency, anti-authority
 
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