Accidents
NTSB Cites Disorientation, Task Saturation for Citation Fatal
The NTSB concluded that a fatal Cessna Citation 501 crash in February 2020 stemmed from spatial disorientation and cumulative effects of task saturation.
Citaiton I
The left-seat pilot was working toward a type rating for the Cessna 501 at the time of the accident.

The loss of control and subsequent breakup of an instructional flight in freezing IMC was due to “spatial disorientation and the cumulative effects of task saturation,” according to a recently released National Transportation Safety Board report on the fatal crash of a Cessna Citation 501 on Feb. 8, 2020. The two pilots and two passengers were killed in the accident.

In the left cockpit seat was an instrument-rated private pilot with a reported total flight time of 805 hours. The right seat was occupied by a type-rated CFI serving as PIC. Given that the remarks section of the filed flight plan described the flight as a “training flight” and the left-seat pilot’s plan to obtain a type rating, “it is likely the pilot in the left seat was the flying pilot for the majority of the flight,” concluded the Safety Board.

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