Aircraft Accident Report
Crash During Approach to Landing
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
Cessna Citation 560, N500AT
Pueblo, Colorado
February 16, 2005

NTSB Number AAR-07/02
NTIS Number PB2007-910403
PDF Document(868 KB)

Executive Summary:  On February 16, 2005, about 0913 mountain standard time, a Cessna Citation 560, N500AT, operated by Martinair, Inc., for Circuit City Stores, Inc., crashed about 4 nautical miles east of Pueblo Memorial Airport, Pueblo, Colorado, while on an instrument landing system approach to runway 26R. The two pilots and six passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flight crew’s failure to effectively monitor and maintain airspeed and comply with procedures for deice boot activation on the approach, which caused an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to establish adequate certification requirements for flight into icing conditions, which led to the inadequate stall warning margin provided by the airplane’s stall warning system.

The safety issues discussed in this report include inadequate training on operations in icing conditions, inadequate deice boot system operational guidance, the need for automatic deice boot systems, inadequate certification requirements for flight into icing conditions, and inadequate stall warning margins in icing conditions. Safety recommendations concerning these issues are addressed to the Federal Aviation Administration.