The NTSB has issued its findings in the June 4, 2007 crash of a Cessna Citation II into Lake Michigan, which killed the two crewmembers and four passengers. The Board cited “the pilot’s mismanagement of an abnormal flight control situation through improper actions, including lack of crew coordination and failing to control airspeed and to prioritize control of the airplane” as the probable cause of the crash.
Operated by Marlin Air under Part 135, the aircraft was transporting a human organ for a transplant operation when it crashed shortly after takeoff from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee. The Board stated the likely initiating event for the accident was either a runaway trim or the unintentional engagement of the autopilot rather than the yaw damper on takeoff, as ATC transmissions and transcripts from the recovered CVR indicate the pilot reported difficulties in operating the aircraft flight controls. The twinjet did not have a data recording system.
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