Accidents
'External Cause' Cited in CJ Winglet Loss in Flight
A CitationJet landed safely after its left Tamarack Aerospace winglet broke off while in flight.
Tamarack Aerospace winglet modification Cessna Citation CJ

A winglet separated in flight from a Cessna Citation CJ3 equipped with Tamarack Aerospace’s Smartwing active winglet system on Thursday evening. According to a statement from Tamarack Aerospace, the winglet broke off due to an as-of-yet unidentified “external cause.”

The 21-year-old aircraft, registered as N869AC by Minnesota Equipment Leasing, was on a flight from Anoka County Airport (KANE) near Minneapolis to Tampa International Airport (KTPA) with an intermediate stop in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. The pilot was descending to Tampa when he experienced “bumps” and then noticed the left winglet was missing. He slowed the aircraft, declared an emergency, and landed without incident.