Contributor - Accidents and Regulations

Contributor - Accidents and Regulations

Gordon Gilbert

The crew of a Cessna Citation on&nbsp;a&nbsp;Part 91&nbsp;early morning&nbsp;flight from Las Vegas to French Valley Airport (F70) Murietta, California, filed IFR for the initial part of the trip, canceled IFR during the descent, then refiled to shoot&nbsp;two&nbsp;approaches, crashing on the second attempt, according to the NTSB&nbsp;preliminary report&nbsp;published Wednesday. The two pilots and four passengers were killed in the&nbsp;July 8&nbsp;accident.
Destination weather turned foggy about the time the twinjet departed Las Vegas&nbsp;at 3:15 a.m.&nbsp;The crew apparently didn't receive weather updates right before takeoff. During the descent, the pilots reported to ATC that they received updated weather and requested an IFR clearance for the RNAV approach to Runway 18 at F70. After a missed approach, the crew requested vectors for another approach.
At 3:55&nbsp;a.m.,&nbsp;F70&nbsp;reported weather was overcast at 300 feet and visibility 3/4&nbsp;mile. At 4:11&nbsp;a.m., reported weather showed visibility had reduced to 1/2&nbsp;mile&nbsp;in fog.
While on final, the airplane descended below the decision altitude&nbsp;of 1,600 feet&nbsp;msl. The last ADS-B data point indicated that the airplane was on a heading of 192 degrees, with a ground speed&nbsp;of&nbsp;128 knots and an altitude of 1,450 ft msl. The airplane impacted terrain about 800 ft short of the Runway 18 threshold at 4:16&nbsp;a.m., an hour after taking off.
The night before the accident flight, the crew had taken off at about 9 p.m. from F70 and landed in Las Vegas after 10 p.m. Five hours later, at 3:15 a.m., the crew took off on the fatal flight.

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