N711BX

On January 18, 2016, about 1000 mountain standard time, a Cessna 525, N711BX, was destroyed following a loss of control and in-flight breakup while maneuvering at altitude near Cedar Fork, Utah. The airline transport pilot and his sole passenger sustained fatal injuries. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed in the area, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the personal cross-country flight, which was operated under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight departed Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Salt Lake City, Utah, about 0950, with an intended destination of Tucson International Airport (TUS), Tucson, Arizona.

According to air traffic control voice communication and radar information, the pilot contacted the SLC departure controller at 0951:59 and reported that he was climbing through 7,500 ft mean sea level (msl) for 10,000 ft (all altitudes are expressed as msl unless otherwise noted). The controller then cleared the pilot to climb to and maintain Flight Level 230 (FL230), and to delete speed restrictions; the pilot confirmed the clearance. At 0952:21, the controller instructed the pilot to maintain 14,000 ft, to delete all speed restrictions, and asked him what speed he was climbing at; the pilot confirmed the clearance and stated that he was climbing at 200 knots (kts).

At 0955:01, while approaching 14,000 ft the pilot reported that he had a failure with his Flight Management System (FMS), that he was "switching to NAV for a second," and would be exceeding the assigned altitude. This was followed by an unintelligible transmission. At 0955:16, the controller instructed the pilot to descend and maintain 14,000 ft and to fly his present heading. About 10 seconds later, the pilot advised the controller that he had an autopilot failure, and requested a climb to visual meteorological conditions. The controller instructed the pilot to climb and maintain FL180. At 0955:47, the pilot responded by confirming the climb to FL180. The controller then asked the pilot if he needed assistance. The pilot did not immediately respond, and the controller asked him a second time. At 0956:16, the pilot responded "negative," saying that he was "just trying to get to clear skies," and was climbing to FL180. The pilot stated that his "number 2" was working, and that his "altitude" had failed. The pilot concluded the transmission by saying, "…so, uh, my number two is working, climbing to one eight thousand."

At 0956:32, the controller advised the pilot that traffic would be crossing above him at FL190, and that it was important that he level the airplane at FL180; the pilot replied, "We'll be watching." At 0956:45, the controller advised the pilot of two areas of light precipitation directly ahead of the airplane, and asked the pilot if he would need vectors to clear the weather. At 0956:59, the pilot responded that he would appreciate any vectors possible. Shortly thereafter, at 0957:06, the controller asked the pilot to "...paint a picture for me of where you think the clearest skies would be. I can vector you wherever you need to go." At 0957:12, the pilot replied that he was heading to TUS, his altitude would not hold, and that he was hand flying the airplane. About this time, radar showed the airplane beginning a right turn from its previously-established southerly heading to a southwesterly heading, though the airplane had neither been cleared to do so by the controller nor had the pilot informed the controller of the deviation. About 0957:20, the pilot transmitted that he would appreciate any vectors possible. About 15 seconds later, the controller advised the pilot that he was showing him at 17,500 ft, directed the pilot to fly his present heading, and stated that the airplane would be clear of the precipitation in about 4 miles. About 17 seconds later, the pilot transmitted, "...ok, MAYDAY. I do need to get up higher. I am losing different instruments. I'd really like to get clear of weather." At 0958:01, the controller issued the pilot a clearance to climb and maintain FL230, which the pilot confirmed. About 0958:26, the controller amended the previous clearance and instructed the pilot to climb to and maintain FL310, which the pilot initially confirmed, but shortly thereafter stated, "...yeah. I can't even dial that in. Still climbing, passing twenty thousand, so I'm just going to be reading it out to be sure my second is operating correctly."

At 0958:46, the controller stated that he was showing the airplane climbing through 20,200 ft, and asked the pilot if he wanted to continue to TUS; the pilot replied, "That is affirmative." At 0958:53, when the airplane was at 20,700 ft, the controller issued the pilot a no-gyro turn to the left for vectors to the southeast; this occurred about 1 minute 41 seconds after the airplane had turned southwest. Radar data showed that the pilot initiated a right turn from a southwesterly heading at an altitude of 20,700 ft. At 0959:12, the airplane reached an altitude of 21,300 ft. msl, and was still in the right turn. At 0959:13, the controller stated, "November one bravo x-ray. I show you in a right turn. Can you turn left?" At 0959:17, while climbing out of 21,300 ft, the pilot replied that he was "trying to climb."

About 0959:47, the controller advised the pilot that he had lost the airplane's altitude readout, and asked the pilot the airplane's altitude. There were no further transmissions received from the pilot. Between 0959:49 and 0959:58, the airplane descended from an altitude of 21,300 ft to 16,000 ft, with its rate of descent during this time increasing from 9,600 ft per minute (fpm) to 36,000 fpm.

The Utah County Sheriff's Office collected four witness statements. One witness heard a loud boom and about 45 seconds later heard a motor sputtering, followed by seeing a piece of the airplane falling; the piece that he observed was on fire, but the witness could not identify what it was. The witness stated that he heard the plane crash but never saw it. A second witness said he heard a boom but did not report seeing [the airplane]. Another witness heard an explosion while in his house, then went outside and saw debris falling from the sky. The fourth witness reported hearing a loud explosion and heard the airplane descend, but did not hear the impact.

Within hours of the accident, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector responded to the accident site. The inspector reported that he did not observe ice accumulation on any of the airplane's surfaces during his onsite examination. The inspector stated that it was snowing at the accident site throughout the day.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The pilot was issued an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating on April 8, 2008, which included commercial privileges for single-engine land airplanes, and a A/CE-525S type rating for single-pilot operations.

A review of the pilot's personal logbook revealed that, at the time of the accident, he had accumulated a total flight time of 3,336 hours, of which 3,138 hours was as pilot-in-command, and 2,015 hours was multiengine time. The pilot had 1,588 total hours of turbojet time, all in the accident airplane. The pilot had flown 8.8 hours, 8.8 hours, and 7.9 hours in the last 90, 60, and 30 days respectively. The pilot was current and qualified to operate the airplane in single-pilot flight operations.

On December 1, 2014, the pilot was issued an FAA third-class airman medical certificate with the restriction, "Must wear corrective lenses." At the time of the application, the pilot reported a total flight time of 3,232 hours, of which 55 hours was accumulated in the previous 6 months.

Records provided by FlightSafety International's (FSI) San Antonio Learning Center, San Antonio, Texas, revealed that, since 2011, the pilot had attended CE-525 recurrent training on a semi-annual basis. The pilot attended his most recent CE-525 recurrent training from August 7, 2015 through August 9, 2015. At the time of his training, the pilot reported a total time of 3,113 hours, with 1,563 hours of turbo-jet time in multiengine airplanes. The FSI recurrent training course consisted of 12.5 ground training hours, and 6 hours of flight simulator time, each of which the pilot completed satisfactorily.

As annotated on the FSI Client Information Sheet, the pilot reported under Type of Flight Director: [Garmin] G750; dual Garmin GTN 750 units were installed in the accident airplane in October 2014. According to the FSI Director of Training Operations, FSI does not possess any Citation simulators configured with this avionics suite. Further, the Director of Training stated that FSI did not provide the accident pilot with training specific to the operation and use of the two Garmin GTN 750. At the time of the accident, the pilot had accumulated a total of 97.8 hours of flight time in the accident airplane since the modification had been completed. Additionally, and in a telephone conversation with the NTSB IIC, the FAA Certificate Management Office, which is located in Wichita, Kansas, and who manages the FSI certificate, reported that while recommended to do so, FSI was not required to provide the pilot with specific training for the Garmin 750 and GTX 33 equipment.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The airplane, serial number 525-0299, had a low-wing, T-tail configuration, with retractable tricycle landing gear. The cabin was pressurized, and the airplane was capable of operating at a maximum pressure altitude of 41,000 ft. The airplane was configured for up to 7 occupants, including the pilot(s). It was approved for single-pilot operations provided the pilot-in-command held a CE525 (single-pilot) type rating. The airplane was equipped with two Williams International FJ44-1A medium-bypass turbofan engines installed on the rear fuselage pylons, each of which produced 1,900 lbs. of thrust.

Maintenance

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