4500 Foot Runway Shouldn't Have Been A Challenge For Citation Latitude N8JR

The first 24 hours post-accident in the Dale Earnhardt Jr accident is revealing a lot of initial info that is pointing to a number of possibilities early in the investigation.

An early look at the FAA Accident summary simply describes the accident as "AIRCRAFT EXPERIENCED HARD LANDING, BOUNCED, DEPARTED RUNWAY AND CAUGHT FIRE."

The Cessna Citation Latitude 680A went off runway 24 after landing at Elizabethton, TN, Municipal Airport, an uncontrolled field, last Thursday.

The aircraft apparently experienced a hard landing. Several witnesses and some video confirm a few bounces in the aftermath followed by the aircraft leaving the runway, colliding with chain-link airport fencing and collapsing the gear as it went off the runway and through a ditch. The aircraft came to a stop near a nearby road, approximately 1000 feet after leaving the runway, and caught fire. NTSB investigator, Ralph Hicks, reported that video showed at least two bounces and the initial collapse of the right main gear.

The aircraft carried two pilots, Earnhardt, his wife and their one-year-old daughter. Injuries were minor through Dale Earnhardt Jr. has apparently decided to take a few days off before resuming his duties as an on-air motor sports commentator. The aircraft was CVR equipped, and the pilots have already conducted their first interviews with the NTSB.

Cessna's Citation Latitude is a jewel in the crown of the renewed Citation line... it claims a 2,700 nm range and a cruise speed of 513 mph. It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW300 and was first announced at the 2011 NBAA convention, with the prototype first flight taking place on 18 February 2014. FAA Certification followed on June 5, 2015, with deliveries commencing August 27th.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov, www.textron.com