Pilot Says PFD, Autopilot Failed En Route, Was 'Fatigued' On Landing

Editor's Note: Sometimes, a runway departure accident isn't just a runway departure accident.

When initial reports first came into ANN regarding a Cessna Citation Mustang that ran off the side of a runway on landing at McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, CA on April 19, they didn't seem to indicate anything particularly unusual. After all, it's not all that uncommon to read about planes exiting the side of a runway on landing, for any number of reasons... and fortunately, no one onboard the aircraft was injured.

As you'll read below, however... as it turns out, this was anything but a "routine" incident...

NTSB Identification: LAX08FA117
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, April 19, 2008 in Carlsbad, CA
Aircraft: Cessna 510, registration: N54PV
Injuries: 4 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On April 19, 2008, about 1010 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna 510 Citation Mustang, N54PV, sustained substantial damage following the pilot's intentional ground loop maneuver during the landing roll on runway 24 at McClellan-Palomar Airport, Carlsbad, California. California Natural Products was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The commercial pilot and three passengers were not injured. The personal flight departed from Lincoln Regional Airport, Lincoln, California, about 0854, with a planned destination of Carlsbad. At the time of the accident, the pilot had canceled his instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan, and was executing a visual flight rules (VFR) approach to runway 24 in visual meteorological conditions.

The pilot was interviewed by a National Transportation Safety Board investigator both immediately after the accident and the following day with regards to his recollections of events that transpired. He affirmed that he is the president of the company operating the airplane. The pilot reported that on the morning of the accident he flew the accident airplane from Stockton, California, to Lincoln, which consisted of a 16-minute flight. After landing in Lincoln he picked up passengers. He subsequently departed at 0854, and was cleared to 35,000 feet mean seal level (msl) as requested on his IFR flight plan. The en route cruise was normal as the airplane approached Carlsbad and the pilot began a standard terminal arrival route (STAR); during the initial segment of the STAR the pilot configured the autopilot in vertical speed mode.

The pilot further stated that as the airplane crossed over the Avenal transition [waypoint on the SADDE6 STAR] about 30,000 feet msl, the right [co-pilot's] Primary Flight Display (PFD) began to flicker. About 5 minutes later, as the airplane continued to descend through 28,000 feet msl, the left PFD flashed an alert indicating that the autopilot had disconnected. The pilot immediately felt the disengagement of the autopilot from what he described as the heavy control forces on the control yoke that he had to exert to fly the airplane. He additionally noted that the autopilot activation light was not illuminated, further confirming that the system had disengaged. Shortly thereafter, the pilot discovered that the electric pitch trim [located on the control yoke] was not operational. After establishing that the pitch trim was not functional, he ultimately began using the trim wheel located on the center consol, which operated normally. The pilot noted that following the autopilot failure, the flight director bars overlaid about a 10-degree pitch up attitude despite the descending flight path.

Flying the airplane by hand, the pilot continued the STAR and reported to air traffic controllers (ATC) that he had an autopilot malfunction. As the pilot descended to 5,000 feet msl, the airplane encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). Controllers vectored the pilot to the instrument landing system (ILS) to runway 24. The airplane broke out of the overcast conditions at 2,600 feet msl and the pilot relayed to controllers that he would make a visual approach to the runway. The pilot noted that he was overwhelmed with the electrical failures and fatigued from maneuvering the airplane by hand for such a long duration (which he approximated was around 45 minutes).

The airplane crossed the runway threshold configured with the wing flaps fully extended [30 degrees] and flying about 15 knots faster than his predetermined landing speed; the pilot had previously calculated a Vref speed of 87 knots. From looking at the airspeed indicator, he noted that the airplane was fast for landing but thought the runway would be long enough to accommodate the likely delayed touchdown. As the airplane progressed down the runway he approached the small uphill slope that was located around the middle. The airplane approached the apex of the sloping runway and the pilot began to clearly distinguish where the runway surface ended, which was sooner than he had anticipated.

The touchdown occurred far down the runway surface, past the middle location. The pilot realized that despite his braking attempts and extension of speed brakes, the airplane was going to continue off the runway surface over a small downsloping cliff at the end. He determined that he would not be able to abort the landing due to the airplane's diminished groundspeed and elected to perform a 180-degree course reversal by rapidly turning the control yoke. The airplane ground looped, coming to rest in a dirt area south of the runway; the main landing gear collapsed and the flaps folded under the wings.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector spoke with a controller that was in contact with the pilot during the accident sequence. She observed the airplane approaching runway 24 and noted that it appeared to be quite high in altitude. In a radio transmission she queried, "do you think you can make it" to which the pilot replied "yes." The airplane then touched down on the runway past taxiway A4 and subsequently ground looped.

Following the accident, the airport issued a special routine aviation weather report (METAR) at 1012. It stated: winds from 130 degrees at 8 knots; overcast at 2,700 feet; visibility 8 miles; temperature 14 degrees Celsius; dew point 08 degrees Celsius; and altimeter 29.95 inHg.

Detailed system examinations are ongoing.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov