20070112000949A

(-23) On January 12, 2007, about 1052 pacific standard time, a Cessna citation jet CE-525, N77215, collided with terrain in van nuys, California. Sun quest executive air charter was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91. The airline transport pilot and the commercial copilot aboard sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. The cross-country re-positioning flight was departing with a planned destination of long beach, California to pick up passengers for a 14 CFR part 135 flight to prescott, Arizona. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan had been filed to long beach. Latitude and longitude coordinates of the primary wreckage were 34 degrees 13.510 minutes north latitude and 118 degrees 29.550 minutes west longitude. Two lineman witness statements indicated that 190 gallons of fuel were added in each wing. One of the linemen observed the copilot preflight the airplane and load bags into the left front baggage compartment. He noted that the copilot pulled the front left baggage door down with one hand, but did not see him latch or lock it. The airplane was then towed to a start-up area out of view to the lineman. Several minutes later the other lineman noted that the aircraft had started up and was beginning to taxi out of the ramp area. He ran over and directed them out of the ramp area. He could not tell if the baggage door was locked. Inspection of the trip sheet and itinerary for the flight showed that at their actual departure time from van nuys they would have had only about 10 minutes to get to long beach and be in a position to depart for prescott. Interviews with sun quest pilots revealed that company policy requires crews to arrive at their departure point and be in position to depart at least 1 hour prior to departure time. The scheduled departure time from long beach was 12:00 pacific standard time. Sun quest flight plans for 30 minutes block travel time from vany nuys to long beach. The airplane taxied the full length of the airport to the departure end of runway 34L, which is 8,001 feet long. Witnesses at midfield and in the van nuys ATCT noted that the airplane was airborne and then leveled off, they did not notice a nose baggage door coming open. They did note that the aircraft appeared not to be accelerating. Witnesses at the departure end of runway 34L said that the left hand nose baggage door was open, and the airplane was about 200 feet above ground level (AGL). The airplane turned slightly left, and was slow. It began descending, and the wings were rocking. It then banked steeply to the right, and impacted the ground. The airplane cut one string of power lines that were perpendicular to the flight path; the falling line hit one witness in the head. Another witness said that the wings were nearly vertical to the ground when the airplane hit. The right wing impacted first in the northbound landes of hayvenhurst ave. the aircraft then went through a set of power lines parallel to the flight path. It continued through a wire fence with a cinder block wall behind it, through a rock pile and then through another cinderblock wall with a wire fence behind it. Just after clearing the citation jet for takeoff, one of the citation jet's pilots indicated to van nuys tower that they wanted to return for landing. The tower asked if they wanted to land on 34L or 16R and the crew acknowledged 34L. A few seconds later the tower controller noted the aircraft settling toward the ground and cleared them to land on any runway. The response was "ok." The tower controller also noted that the citation's wing flaps and landing gear had not yet been retracted. Investigators established control continuity, determined that the landing gear was down, and the speed brakes were stowed. The left engine separated, and was 100 feet in front of the main wreckage. It turned freely when manually rotated. The right engine remained in place, but sustained mechanical damage and would not rotate. The sides were crushed, and cinder block pieces were in the inlet. Examination of the front left baggage door indicated that the key mechanism was in the unlocked position. The airplane flight manual (AFM) noted that upon energizing the electrical system, the amber master caution light would illuminate, and an amber annunciator light would flash if the cabin entry door, either of the forward baggage doors, or the tail cone door was not key locked. After pressing the master caution light, it would extinguish, but the door not locked annunciator light would remain on continuously. The annunciator panel is in the middle of the glare shield across the top of the instrument panel. A review of previous reports noted other instances of a front baggage door popping open on several different citation models. In most cases the door separated, and the crews landed uneventfully. In at least one case, a front baggage door on a model with a similar nose configuration stayed attached. That crew returned to the departure airport, and landed safely.