A January 2014 fatal crash of a Cessna Citation 501 was caused by the pilot-in-command (PIC) deciding to “conduct the VFR approach even though he was aware of the prevailing [IMC in fog] at the airport,” according to a newly released final report from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU). The PIC, copilot and the two passengers perished when the twinjet struck obstacles 2 nm short of Runway 22 at Germany’s Trier-Fohren Airport, which is a VFR-only field.
The U.S.-registered twinjet was being operated as a private flight by industrial company Theo Steil GmbH. The report also cited “insufficient situational awareness of the pilots” and “insufficient crew resource management.”
Possible pressure by the passengers to land at Trier was also investigated. The son of one of the passengers told investigators that his father had called him on the morning of the day of the accident and told him that the airplane would probably land at Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, where the forecast weather was VMC. He said it was “inconceivable” that his father would pressure the pilot to fly to Trier.
Investigators asked three pilots, who were working for the same company, about the personality of the PIC. He was described as “rather dominant and assured of himself.” Another pilot told investigators that on the weekend before the accident flight there had been a dispute between the PIC and the copilot. He said the PIC had voiced his intention to have the working relationship with the copilot terminated.
The PIC’s wife said that her husband had been “displeased with the work of the copilot and had assessed his skills and proficiency as low.” The pilots interviewed by the BFU described the copilot as “reticent, level-headed and a cooperative team player.”