Notes Jet Ran Off Taxiway Twice Before Takeoff

The National Transportation Safety Board is out with its preliminary report on the February 1 crash of a Cessna Citation near Augusta, ME... and it paints a curious picture of the events prior to the accident.

As ANN reported, the accident claimed the lives of businesswoman Jeanette Symons, and her 10-year-old son, Balan. Symons was the founder and CEO of Industrious Kid, and co-founder of social networking website Imbee.com.

Maine's Kennebec Journal newspaper quotes NTSB investigators, who say Symons appeared to be confused about her surroundings from the time she started taxiing for takeoff from Augusta State Airport, until her final radio call to controllers just before the crash, at about 1745 Eastern time.

Investigators said Symons was given a standard briefing on weather conditions at 1700. Reported weather at the time was light snow turning to freezing rain, which witnesses said was starting to accumulate on parked cars. Symons filed an IFR flight plan to Lincoln, NE; FAA records confirm she was an instrument-rated pilot.

Witnesses told investigators they saw the jet run through a ditch while taxiing, its left main tire becoming stuck in ice. The engines were heard operating at "a high rate of power." Shortly afterward, Symons taxied through ice and off the asphalt yet again, then radioed her intention to depart from an incorrect runway.

NTSB reported an employee of Maine Instrument Flight turned on the pilot-controlled taxi and runway lights when Symons failed to do so, but it's not clear whether the intent was to help direct her to the proper runway.

After takeoff, at 3,000 feet, Symons radioed departure control at Portland International Jetport to report an attitude indicator failure. NTSB reported she also said she didn’t know which way she was turning. Four minutes after takeoff, the plane crashed and burned in a wooded area of West Gardiner.

The NTSB also notes Symon's Citation 525 was pulled from the hangar and onto the ramp about an hour before takeoff, to make room for a jet operated by the hangar's Part 121 owner -- which cancelled its flight due to weather conditions.

Release of the NTSB's full report on probable cause is expected in about a year.

FMI: Read The Full Preliminary Report