Accidents
NTSB Starts Probe of Citation II Fatal Accident in Texas
Witnesses said twinjet had trouble climbing before it hit a power line and crashed

NTSB investigators arrived today in Odessa, Texas, where a Cessna Citation II crashed and burned yesterday morning moments after departing from Runway 16 at Odessa-Schlemeyer Field. The pilot and a passenger were killed, and one person was injured and rescued from a burning home.

Unofficial preliminary information indicates that moments after lift-off, the twinjet clipped a power line some 1,000 feet beyond the end of Runway 16 before crashing in an alley adjacent to a mobile home park at about 7 a.m. local time. Witnesses told local media that the aircraft appeared to be struggling to gain altitude. In addition to mobile homes, the crash also damaged or destroyed several other structures and vehicles and started a brush fire that was soon contained.