AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2019 - T-16

ACCIDENT 1: FOUR FATALITIES

In the early morning of January 24,
2006, N86CE, a Cessna Citation 560,
approached McClellan-Palomar Airport
(CRQ) in Carlsbad, California. McClellanPalomar has a single runway just shy of
5,000 feet long, and sits a few miles from
the Pacific Ocean at 331 feet msl. Despite
the relatively benign environment
immediately surrounding the airport,
approaches from the east can be demanding; the Peninsular Ranges rise to more
than 6,000 feet msl within 25 miles of the
airport, necessitating minimum segment
altitudes as high as 7,100 feet msl on the
ILS 24 approach.
As N86CE approached McClellanPalomar, the crew of two airline transport
pilots was navigating to an intermediate
fix on the ILS Runway 24 approach when
they were cleared for the approach, with
the advisory that the glideslope was unusable. The first hint of trouble came just a
few seconds after the approach clearance,
when the controller asked, "You gonna be
able to get down OK?" to which the captain
responded "Ah, yeah, thank you."
Approximately two minutes after
receiving the approach clearance the
controller advised the crew that the airport was at their 12 o'clock position at 6.5
miles. They acknowledged the airport in
sight and shortly afterward canceled IFR.
The controller again alluded to the aircraft's excessive altitude when he advised
the crew that they could "use S-turns to
get down."
At this point the aircraft was just less
than six miles from the runway threshold, and descending through 5,000 feet.
By comparison, on a stabilized approach
an aircraft six miles from McClellanPalomar would be no higher than 2,300
feet msl. The crew maintained a 3,000to 4,000-feet-per-minute descent until
about four-tenths of a mile from the end
of the runway, when the descent decreased
to 1,000 fpm. During this period, the
enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) alerted the crew for the last
20 seconds of the approach with numerous
sink rate alerts, followed by "pull up, pull
T-16 | AOPA PILOT April 2019

Once an attempt is
made to stop a
landing aircraft, the
pilot is historically best
served by continuing
that effort until the
airplane stops.

up, pull up, pull up, pull up, sink rate, sink
rate, minimums, minimums, one hundred
[feet agl], sink rate, forty [feet agl], thirty
[feet agl], sink rate."
The Citation crossed the threshold
with a groundspeed calculated to have
been between 130 and 140 knots. With the
six-knot tailwind present, this groundspeed equated to a calibrated airspeed of
roughly 131 knots-30 knots faster than
the reference approach speed (VREF) of 101
knots appropriate for the aircraft's landing weight. The extra airspeed no doubt
contributed to the slightly long landing,
with the jet touching down 1,500 feet past
the threshold. Nonetheless, Cessna calculated that even with the excessive speed
and floating, had the pilots used maximum
reverse thrust and braking, the Citation
could have stopped 4,746 feet from the
approach end of the runway, or 151 feet
short of its end.
Within a second of gear contact the
pilots had deployed reverse thrust, and
for five seconds no cockpit conversation is
heard on the cockpit voice recorder until
the co-pilot says "Let's get on them," to
which the captain replies, "Yeah, I don't
like this." Six more seconds pass before
the co-pilot asks twice, in rapid succession, if they are going around, and the
captain answers with, "Yeah, let's get...
out of here."
Witnesses heard the engines spoolup, and the NTSB determined the
aircraft became airborne prior to the
end of the runway. The flight was tragically short-lived, however, as the aircraft

hit a localizer antenna platform located
roughly 300 feet past the end of the
runway, and two feet lower than the
departure end of the runway-implying
the airplane was not capable of maintaining level flight at the airspeed at which
it lifted off.
The now damaged jet continued flying
over downsloping terrain for another 400
feet before hitting the ground and then a
building 80 feet lower than the departure
end of the runway. The majority of the aircraft structure forward of the engines was
consumed or significantly damaged by the
ensuing fire, and the two pilots and two
passengers died.
ACCIDENT 2: NO INJURIES

On the morning of April 19, 2008, another
Citation approached McClellan-Palomar,
again from the east with the intention of
landing on Runway 24. N54PV was a model
510 Mustang, flown by a single, commercially rated pilot.
The pilot reported that as he
descended through 30,000 feet on the
assigned arrival, the right primary flight
display began to flicker. A few minutes
later an alert flashed, indicating that the
autopilot had disengaged, and the pilot
simultaneously felt the autopilot disengagement and heavy control forces on the
yoke. The pilot realized that the electric
pitch trim was not functioning, but was
able to use the manual pitch trim wheel
on the center console.
This act undoubtedly raised the pilot's
workload-with his left hand he would
have been required to manually control
the aircraft, while his right hand would
be working the trim wheel during any
speed or configuration changes. The FAA
recognizes the reduction in workload
a functioning autopilot creates by only
allowing single-pilot flight in light jets if
the autopilot is working properly.
ATC vectored the aircraft to the
ILS approach to Runway 24, and the
Mustang broke out of instrument conditions at 2,600 feet msl. Again, a Citation
was given a caution by ATC when the
controller noted N54PV was abnormally
AOPA Turbine Pilot Magazine - April 2019

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