Jet Went Down On Approach to Pueblo Memorial Airport

NTSB investigators are looking at the strong possibility that freezing weather and improper use of deicing equipment were factors in the February 16 downing of a Cessna 560 bizjet outside Pueblo, CO, according to the NTSB preliminary report into the accident.

As was reported in Aero-News, eight people onboard the Citation were killed when the jet owned by Circuit City Stores Inc. went down four miles east of the airport (PUB.) The accident airplane and another Circuit City jet were en route to Santa Ana, CA and were stopping at Pueblo for fuel.

Temperatures hovered around 20 degrees at the time of the accident, according to the NTSB, and there were reports of freezing drizzle in the area before the crash at 9:12 a.m. An AIRMET for icing had been previously issued for the Pueblo area and was in effect when the Citation went down.

Transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder, obtained by the Rocky Mountain News, indicate the pilot and co-pilot of the accident airplane had discussed a thin layer of ice accumulating on the Citation's wings.

"OK, it's building a little bit right on the leading edge," one of the pilots said shortly before the accident. "It's not the real white ice like we had yesterday. It's more of a grayish."

The Citation descended normally for an approach to runway 26R, but immediately before the accident one of the pilots made one more reference to ice: "I don't know if you want to run your ice a little bit..."

Seconds later, the tape recorded the high-pitched tone, followed by the warning "bank angle, bank angle, bank angle." No other audio was on the cockpit recorder, and no further communication from the accident plane was received by ATC.

According to the NTSB report, the second Circuit City jet (also a Citation) and a Bombardier CRJ-200 in a holding pattern over PUB both reported rime ice formation on their airplanes.

FMI: NTSB Preliminary Report