Incident Overview
Description
A Cessna 525A CitationJet CJ2+ jet was damaged in a loss of control accident whilst on a flight from Leeds/Bradford Airport. The pilot and passenger were not injured. As the aircraft approached its cruising altitude of FL430, the indicated airspeed decreased to about 128 knots. The pilot then reduced the rate of climb to 500 ft/min. However, over the next 50 seconds, the speed gradually reduced by a further 10 kts. Close to FL430, the pilot checked his tablet to check the forecast. At that moment the aircraft pitched severely nose-down and rolled to the right, departing from controlled flight in a series of five 360ø rolls to the right. The pilot briefly regained control before the aircraft stalled again and in the following recovery. The aircrafts wings were damaged in overload due to the +4.48g peak in acceleration, which was between the +3.6g (‘limit’ load) and +5.4g (‘ultimate’ load). The pilot returned to Leeds/Bradford at FL280 and made a successful landing. Conclusion: The pilot operated the aircraft in an autopilot mode which left it vulnerable to a stall and did not monitor the reducing airspeed as the aircraft reached its cruising altitude. The ‘sticking’ of the stall warning system removed the safety feature specifically designed to protect against this.
Primary Cause
Autopilot mode operation reduced pilot monitoring of airspeed, leading to a stall.Autopilot mode operation reduced pilot monitoring of airspeed, leading to a stall.Share on:
