Incident Overview
On January 12, 2014, a Cessna 501 Citation I/SP business jet crashed near the Trier-Föhren airfield in Germany. The accident resulted in the deaths of all four individuals on board: two pilots and two passengers. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact, and third-party damage included harm to overhead power lines, forest areas, and agricultural land.
Flight Details and Sequence of Events
The flight originated from Shoreham, United Kingdom, with a planned destination of Trier-Föhren. The crew had departed on Friday, January 10, for a weekend hunting trip and returned on Sunday. The return flight was scheduled to depart at 10:15 UTC. During the approach phase, the aircraft transitioned from Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) near the reporting point PITES.
According to radar data, the aircraft was descending when it lost contact with air traffic control. The crash occurred approximately 2.5 nautical miles short of Runway 22 while the aircraft was in fog. The investigation determined that the aircraft collided with an obstacle and impacted the ground during this visual approach.
Investigation Findings
The German Federal Aviation Accident Investigation Office (BFU) investigated the incident under EU Regulation No. 996/2010. The primary cause was identified as the Pilot in Command's decision to continue a visual approach despite known instrument meteorological conditions at the destination. Additionally, a likely incorrect vertical profile was flown due to a probable erroneous setting on the navigation equipment.
Contributing factors included insufficient crew resource management (CRM) and a lack of adequate situational awareness among the pilots. The absence of visual references in the fog prevented the timely abort of the descent, leading to the controlled flight into terrain.