Accidents
Pilot Judgment Error Caused Citation III Hail Damage
Accident went unreported for three months until anonymous complaint
Citation 650 hail damage
© FAA | NTSB

A pilot’s decision to overfly convective weather instead of deviating around it caused a Cessna Citation III to sustain substantial hail damage over Colorado on June 13, 2025, according to the NTSB final report. The NTSB also noted that the right-seat pilot did not hold a type rating for the twinjet and did not meet regulatory requirements to act as second-in-command. The aircraft requires two pilots.

For approximately three months, the accident remained unreported to the NTSB until authorities received an anonymous complaint. Investigators found the damaged Citation III “at the airplane owner’s hangar at the destination airport where it was undergoing repairs.”