The pilot of the Cessna Citation CJ4 that collided with a Cessna 150 on April 2 at Indiana’s non-towered Marion Municipal Airport (MZZ) “did not recall making a radio call on Unicom,” according to an NTSB preliminary report issued yesterday. Two witnesses "heard the Cessna 150 pilot on Runway 15 Unicom frequency.”
The Cessna 150 was departing Runway 15 when it struck the twinjet, which landed on Runway 22. Both occupants of the piston single were killed, while the CJ4 sustained “substantial damage,” the report said. “Evidence at the intersection showed that the airplanes came together perpendicular to each other…Examination of the accident site showed that the Cessna 150 had struck the empennage of the Cessna 525 at the intersection of Runways 15 and 22.”
According to the NTSB, the CJ4 pilot did not see the departing Cessna 150 while he was on a straight-in approach to Runway 22 or during the landing roll. The jet pilot did attempt to use onboard TCAS to scan for traffic on approach, the NTSB said, but "the TCAS did not show any traffic on the airport.”
Weather at the time of the accident was VFR, with four miles of visibility due to haze. The ends of MZZ's Runways 15/33 and 4/22 have signs warning pilots that traffic on 4/22 and 15/33, respectively, “Cannot Be Seen, Monitor Unicom 122.7."