I haven’t confirmed your calculations, but I will assume they are correct for arguments sake…
They arrive at their intended destination with 45 minutes of fuel remaining…
Now that is 45 minutes at normal cruise…
How long does that fuel last when your executing missed approaches?..
When they went missed the third time, they had to know the game was about over…
The fourth approach must have taken them below minimums before they saw the runway environment, otherwise they would have landed on a previous attempt…
What I’m getting at is this, do you shoot the third approach below minimums to land with power or do you go missed and shoot the fourth approach below minimums without power?..
These guys chose the latter…
Although, I suppose they didn’t think they’d actually exhaust their fuel supply by missing the approach one more time…
I’m guessing they had that very debate, do we bust in now or do we bust in next time around?..
They flew themselves out of options…
Maybe after the second approach, they didn’t have enough fuel to divert?
You know, you only pointed out 1 field that was closer, KSUT. Everything else was further NE or NW. I said I wouldn’t have gone that far that low on fuel. What I was alluding to was the fact that not much existed over the water. At any point he could have put the compass on W and made somewhere closer.
I think what folks are saying about Customs is spot on.
Good call wasn’t even thinking along those lines. I was just thinking how much my butt would hurt in a Citation seat after that long.
The ones I listed were the closest to the KILM that Airnav has listed. I see what you mean, though. Personally, I would have opted for KSAV and taken the fine. Better to get down safe and be short some money than make it down and damage the plane, let alone get yourself killed.
Looks like Nassau would have been on the way as well. But would they have realized they were short on fuel by the time they overflew it?
Having Customs available is another problem, I agree, but they easily could have received the weather conditions from the FSS, or from ATC when they were in contact with that controller and planned accordingly.
Also… was FL260 their final altitude? That particular C550 appears to have a ceiling of FL430. Any chance on what winds aloft were at that time?
Ya I was thinking KJZI (Charlie South) or KSAV also.
Probably not. We used to take off for Shannon Ireland from Newfoundland and the FMS would show -3000lbs of fuel at landing when we took off; it wasn’t till we were at altitude for about 1.5 hours until it showed positive fuel at landing.
I’m puzzeled by that one too. MDJB-KILM is ~1186NM (according to Great Circle Mapper). Which should be within the a/c range at norm cruise and AT ALTITUDE. I don’t have a CE 550 operations manual handy to check the fuel burns and TAS for FL260. I bet that is close to its fasted altitude, but to get that speed to sacrifice fuel obviously.
If this was a Citation II and it didn’t have Branson Mods (Branson Aircraft Group Denver, CO) they couldn’t have taken full fuel and people.
You shoot several approaches when you are low on fuel and on your last attempt you pop the tanks, chances are you are going to forget to do something. NOW you’d think the thing they’d remember most would be the gear but we can’t all be armchair captains. maybe the blow-down bottle didn’t work?
The problem lies in the fact that they didn’t pack on enough fuel to make the flight and add in the fact that they didn’t divert. I don’t buy the “winds were stronger then expected” cause the wind is ALWAYS strong this time of year.
heading west you can expect to go slow.
Thought about that is the shower (sorry for the mental picture) I didn’t think about domestic RVSM, I was thinking maybe they didn’t have a LOA for WATRS airspace. disclaimer I don’t have a WATRS airspace chart handy, but I think it extends to this route of flight.
ajw22 Thanks for the numbers. Now I really can’t imagine what they were thinking. If I do the numbers right they’re using 3.8lbs/nm. 1200nm=4552lbs required. This trip was tight from the get-go. Had the entire route was overwater.
Leasons for us to all take away from this I guess.
*Fuel Exhaustion Cited in Citation II Crash
By Jennifer Harrington
According to Randy Stevenson, an executive with Joda LLC, the financing group that owns the aircraft, the Citation sustained a punctured right wing and additional damage to the belly skin, the flaps and the left wing.
The aircraft is leased to Caribair, a Dominican Republic-based airline, Stevenson said, and was being operated under Part 91 out of La Isabela International Airport in the Dominican Republic. Seven people, including two pilots, were on board the aircraft at the time of the accident.
No injuries were reported. The pilot had made three unsuccessful attempts to land in fog before declaring an emergency while on the fourth approach.
An NTSB spokesman said the left engine shut down during the third approach and the right engine shut down during the fourth approach. The FAA spokeswoman did not know if the pilots had listed an alternate airport in the flight plan, but said that question would be part of the investigation.
*
I was thinking the same thing they were probably illegal before theve took off as far as fuel goes. At Citation flying in the mid to high 20’s is burning alot of fuel. Even in the upper 35-39000 feet it would have been close on fuel and questionable. If you look back at were Miami center started tracking the aircraft at 10:29pm Fl level 25500 and the landing at 02:59Am. That makes the flight time 4:30 not include how many minutes it took to get to 25500 and talk to Miami center. Now add to that 3 go arounds things went from bad to worse pretty fast.
I was thinking the same thing they were probably illegal before theve took off as far as fuel goes.
Look at the FA history and you will see this was not the first time they did MDJB to KILM. There are other long range flights you can also question.
It has always worked out for them until now. A combination of head winds and the fog finally caught them.
If the pilots had decided to bust mins on the 2nd approach and land we never would have heard of them. You have to wonder what the pilots were thinking during the 3rd and 4th approach.
The plane should have had a CVR. Maybe we will read what went on in the cockpit someday.
[quote=“ajw22”]
…An NTSB spokesman said the left engine shut down during the third approach and the right engine shut down during the fourth approach…[/quote]
It’s already been said, but they probably left the gear up to stretch the glide and not seeing the runway til they got there doesn’t give them an opportunity to dangle the dunlops.
Non-Pilot Comment: How about fatigue at that time of night?
All part of the job for commercial pilots.
The FAA has maximum duty times and minimum rest times for commercial pilots. This was a charter from the Dominican Republic and may not fall under FAA regulations.
Fatigue can still be an issue and has been a cause of some accidents.
I didn’t think about domestic RVSM, I was thinking maybe they didn’t have a LOA for WATRS airspace. disclaimer I don’t have a WATRS airspace chart handy, but I think it extends to this route of flight.