N941JM

HISTORY OF FLIGHT

On November 30, 2018, about 1353 central standard time, a Cessna 550, N941JM, departed controlled flight and impacted terrain while on approach at the Hector International Airport (FAR), Fargo, North Dakota. The pilot and one of the passengers were not injured, and 9 passengers received minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was registered to Slice of the 406 LLC and operated by the pilot under the provisions of the Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a business flight. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was operating on an instrument flight plan. The flight departed from the Sloulin Field International Airport (ISN), Williston, North Dakota, about 1250 with FAR as the destination.

The pilot reported that after departure, the flight was cleared direct as filed on the instrument flight plan. He obtained the destination weather when the flight was 100 nautical miles (nm) and 30 nm from FAR. Air traffic control (ATC) provided radar vectors to the inbound course for the FAR ILS RWY 18 approach and subsequently cleared the flight for the approach. He stated that he completed the approach checklist, activated the deicing equipment, and started a descent to 2,500 ft mean sea level (msl). The airplane was about 10 nm from FAR when it entered a layer of clouds, which were at 3,100 ft msl, at an airspeed of 160 kts. He stated that ice started to accumulate on the wings, so he activated the de-ice boots. While inbound to FAR from the final approach fix, he switched the radio to the tower frequency, maintained 140 kts airspeed, completed the landing checklist, and was cleared to land. He reported that he activated the de-ice boots several times on the approach and slowed the airplane to 120 kts airspeed for the final approach. The airplane exited the clouds at 400 ft above ground level (agl), and it was right of centerline with the airport and runway in sight. He reported that he turned the autopilot and yaw damper off, corrected to the left to line up with the centerline, and maintained 120 kts airspeed over the airport fence. He stated that all indications were normal for landing. He stated that at approximately 100 ft agl, the airplane started to pull to the right. He applied left corrective control inputs, but the airplane continued to pull to the right. He applied engine power to perform a go-around, but the airplane landed in the grass just right of runway 18. He shut the engines down, turned the battery off, and conducted an emergency evacuation through the main cabin door.

A witness, who observed the accident from his office window which faced the approach threshold for runway 18, reported that he "watched the airplane fall out of the sky." He explained that he saw the wings slowly "fluttering" back and forth and recognized that the airplane was about to stall from an altitude of 130 to 140 ft agl. He said the airplane's nose pitched up and then the right wing went down. He could see the belly of the airplane and he estimated that the angle of bank was possibly 80°.

Another witness said that he saw the airplane as it was on final approach over the runway threshold. He said the airplane looked "odd." The airplane was over the runway, but it was 30 – 50 ft high. He said it was way too high for the flare. The nose was high and then it leveled off. Then the nose rose up and the wings started "waffling" and was about to stall. The right wing dropped and hit the ground about 2 seconds later. He estimated that the angle of bank was about 40°.

The passenger, who was sitting in the right seat of the cockpit, reported that the airplane started to take on ice on the windshield and the deicing boot on the right wing while they were on the approach in the clouds. He reported that the approach was normal until they neared the ground when the tail started "fish tailing." He saw the pilot push the throttles forward; however, the left wing climbed and the airplane "pulled hard to the right." The airplane impacted the ground on its right wing and then impacted back on its belly.

The passenger who was sitting on the couch directly behind the copilot's seat reported that the airplane was in the clouds for about 15 minutes and she saw ice forming on the windshield. When they were about to land, she said the pilot had the control wheel all the way toward him. She did not see any lights or hear any "bells," but she did see the pilot holding the control yoke as hard as he could and as close to his chest as he could. She said his arms were shaking because he was pulling back so hard. She said the pilot said an expletive, and then the airplane crashed seconds later.

PERSONNEL INFORMATION

The 41-year-old pilot held a commercial pilot certificate with single-engine land, multi-engine land, and airplane instrument ratings. He held a second-class airman medical certificate that was issued on July 12, 2018 with no limitations. The pilot reported that he had a total of 1,513 flight hours with 263 hours in a Cessna 550, and a total turbine time of 432.9 hours

The pilot's flight logbook indicted that he passed his commercial, multi-engine check ride on July 31, 2016, when he had a total of 479.1 flight hours. On May 11, 2017, he passed a check ride in a Cessna 550 when he had a total of 1,071.8 flight hours with 69.6 hours of turbojet time and 85.1 hours of turboprop time. On June 28, 2018, he passed the Pilot Proficiency Check 14 CFR 61.58 check ride for single-pilot operation in a Cessna 550 when he had a total of 1,420.5 flight hours with 257.5 hours of turbojet time and 85.1 hours of turboprop time.

Single-pilot Exemption

The logbook entry for single-pilot exemption #9917 stated that the pilot, "… has met all requirements for FAA exemption No. 9917 published at docket No. FAA-2009-0373, received training and review of the Practical Test Standards listed in FAA-S-8081-5F, and has completed the FAA Approved Training Course by 'VUE, Inc.'"

The pilot received single-pilot exemption training through VUE, Inc., the company which held the Exemption No. 9917. The exemption was from FAR 91.9 (a), and 91.531 (a) (1) and (2) of Title 14, CFR to the extent possible to allow VUE to train and check pilots of certain Cessna Citation airplanes covered by the CE-500 type rating to operate those airplanes with a single pilot, rather than with two as required by their type certificate sheets, subject to certain conditions and limitations.

One of the pilot requirements was that the pilot must have logged at least 1,000 hours of total pilot flight time, including at least 50 hours of night flight time; 75 hours of instrument flight time; 40 hours of which are in actual instrument meteorological conditions; and 500 hours as pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), or both, in turbine-powered airplanes.

A review of the pilot's flight logbook indicated that he had less than 500 hours as PIC or SIC in turbine-powered aircraft which was required to exercise the single-pilot exemption.

AIRCRAFT INFORMATION

The Cessna 550 is a low-wing airplane powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada JT-15B-4 turbofan engines which produced 2,500 lbs of thrust each. It is equipped with straight wings with integral wet-wing fuel tanks, a conventional tail, and retractable tricycle landing gear. The accident airplane was manufactured in 1980 and had a seating capacity of seven passengers and two pilots and had a maximum gross weight was 13,500 lbs.

According to the Cessna Citation Model 500 Airplane Flight Manual (AFM), the airplane was originally certificated under 14 CFR Part 25, which requires that a two-pilot crew operate the airplane. However, the FAA subsequently allowed for certain exemptions, including the VUE, Inc. No.9917 exemption, which allowed for single-pilot operation of the CE-500 and other specific airplanes.

A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported that according to the airplane's maintenance records, in 1986, two of the regular forward-facing passenger seats were removed from the cabin and replaced with a 3-person couch. The installation of the couch was installed without approved data for the accident airplane. During the accident, the cable for the seat belt attachment for the mid and aft passenger failed during ground impact.

The FAA inspector also reported that the factory installed toilet seat (and bench that covered the toilet seat) was a non-belted seat. It was not designed to be used as a passenger seat during takeoffs and landings. The seat belt installation for the toilet seat on the accident airplane was not approved and did not meet FAR Part 25 requirements.

During the accident flight, one of the passengers was sitting in the copilot's seat, 5 passengers were sitting in the originally installed cabin passenger seats, 3 passengers were sitting on the side facing couch located on the right, front side of the cabin, and 1 passenger was sitting on the bench which was over the toilet seat located in the rear of the cabin. All the passengers were wearing the seatbelts that were provided with the seats.

The Cessna 550 AFM had the following description of the airplane's stall warning system:

"Stall warning is achieved aerodynamically, aided by stall strips on the inboard section of each wing. The strips disrupt airflow over the wing, causing that area to stall first accentuating prestall buffet. The pilot is alerted to impending stall by aerodynamic buffeting which occurs at approximately VS1 + 10 in the clean configuration and VS0 + 5 in the landing configuration."

The airplane was also equipped with an optional Teledyne Angle-of-Attack System. The Supplement to the AFM stated that "the angle-of-attack system can be used as a reference for approach speed (1.3 VS1) at all airplane weights and center-of-gravity locations at zero, takeoff/approach, and landing flap positions.

Flaps

The a...