History of Flight
On August 5, 2024, about 1011 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 750, registration N750GB, was destroyed when it crashed near Jamestown, New York. The pilot was seriously injured, and the copilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated by Access Stripe, Inc as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight.
The flight departed Chautauqua County Dunkirk Airport (DKK), Dunkirk, New York, en route to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport (FXE), Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to collect airplane parts and a mechanic for work on another company airplane at DKK.
According to preliminary ADS-B and ATC communication data, the pilots obtained an instrument flight rules clearance “as filed” to FXE and climbed to 10,000 ft mean sea level (msl). The Buffalo, New York approach controller advised the flight to expect a clearance to flight level 470 in 10 minutes but received no reply. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to contact the flight crew, the controller contacted Cleveland Center. The controller later transmitted on the emergency (Guard) frequency and noted that the target displayed an emergency transponder code (7700) as it descended through 7,800 ft. The controller announced the airplane was directly over Jamestown Airport (JHW) without reply.
Intermittent contact was established with the flight crew, including “very garbled” transmissions. The last transmission from the flight crew was “we are about to land at Jamestown.”
Track data showed the airplane climbed on a southerly track, leveled at about 10,000 ft for about 1 minute, then entered a descent. It passed west of JHW and initiated a left, descending, decelerating, 270° turn to align with runway 25. The final target showed the airplane aligned with the runway at 1,625 ft and 150 kts. The airplane impacted the ground in a flat attitude about 200 ft before the approach end of runway 25 at JHW, elevation 1,723 ft.
The pilot was not immediately available for interview due to his injuries. The copilot reported that about 5,000 ft in the initial climb, he smelled “electrical smoke,” but the pilot did not. The copilot no longer detected the smell, but as the airplane reached about 8,000 ft, both pilots detected it. Both stated there was an odor of smoke but no visible smoke.
As they descended through about 10,000 ft, the copilot heard the “clacker” for the pitch trim and said the airplane was “trimming down and accelerating… well over 250 [knots] with the nose trimming down.” The “Master Caution” and panel segments illuminated, along with other Crew Alerting System (CAS) messages. He tried to contact the controller before noticing that “Comm 2 had failed, and the Garmin 5000 had big, red X’s.”
After landing, the cabin filled with smoke and the crew assessed egress paths as the airplane was surrounded by fire. The pilot opened the main cabin door and both crewmembers egressed without assistance.
Personnel Information
The pilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single-engine land and sea and airplane multiengine land and sea, with multiple type ratings. His most recent FAA second-class medical certificate was issued on September 6, 2023. He reported 17,000 hours of flight experience on that date.
The copilot held an airline transport pilot certificate with a rating for airplane multiengine land, with multiple type ratings, and a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent FAA first-class medical certificate was issued on June 7, 2024. He reported 12,950 total hours of flight experience on that date.
Airplane Information
According to FAA and maintenance records, the airplane was manufactured in 2014 and was powered by two Rolls-Royce DE3007C2 turbofan engines. The most recent continuous airworthiness inspection was completed on July 11, 2024, at 2,677 total hours of operation.
Wreckage Information
The airplane initially impacted terrain and runway lighting 200 ft before the approach end of runway 25. It continued along the runway centerline, beyond the runway 13/31 intersection, off the left side of runway 25, and came to rest about 225 ft from the runway’s left edge and about 2,150 ft beyond the initial impact point.
The airplane came to rest facing about 300° magnetic. The cockpit, cabin area, inboard sections of both wings, empennage, and the root section of the vertical stabilizer were consumed by post-impact fire. The upper portion of the vertical stabilizer and the horizontal stabilizers were intact.
Control continuity was established from the cockpit to all flight control surfaces except for the left speed brake and spoiler cables, which displayed thermal damage consistent with the post-impact fire.
The engines were examined visually and also displayed thermal damage consistent with post-impact fire. There was no evidence of pre-impact mechanical anomaly. The copilot stated that he monitored engine function throughout the flight, that there were no CAS messages related to the engines, and that neither engine malfunctioned.
The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) was recovered and retained for examination and download.