Wreckage Located In Remote Northern Georgia

A winter storm and the associated weather may be implicated in a Saturday accident that brought down a Cessna Citation down after a flight that saw highly variable altitude and heading deviations in the moments prior to impact.

The Citation took off from Atlanta Regional Airport-Falcon Field in Peachtree City, GA, shortly before 1000, local time. The conditions at the time featured what locals called a rare and heavy North Georgia snowfall.

The jet's wreckage has been located in remote terrain in Gordon County, GA... several miles away from improved roadways and access.

A Sheriff's bulletin noted that, "Gordon County Sheriff Mitch Ralston has announced that the wreckage of a plane that has been missing since just after 10 a.m. today has just been found in a very remote, treacherous to reach area of Eastern Gordon County. No survivors have been located."

Flightaware records of the data associated with the flight shows variations in altitude that exceeded several thousand feet, with extensive and alternating climbs and descents and variation in airspeed of over 100 knots. Th terminal descent rate exceeded 10000 feet per minute.

The aircraft involved is described at N501RG, a Cessna 501 Citation I/SP, built in 1982. No information has been confirmed as to the number of souls on board, but unfortunately the Sheriff has described the current operations as a "recovery effort... not a rescue." The NTSB and associated personnel are enroute to the site.

We'll present more data as it becomes available.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov