Cessna 680 N680SA

Summary

On 18 August 2024 at about 21:39 local time, a Cessna 680 registered N680SA was involved in an accident near Washington, North Carolina, United States. 3 people were on board. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 August 2024 at 21:39

Classification

Accident

Location

Washington, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Washington-Warren (OCW)

Coordinates

35.5714, -77.0472

Aircraft

Cessna 680

Registration

N680SA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2008

Engines

2

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Positioning

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Goldsboro → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA24LA351

Injuries not recorded.

The flight crew’s failure to properly configure the airplane before landing and the captain’s subsequent failure to recognize the landing gear aural warning, which resulted in a gear-up landing. Contributing to the accident was the flight crew’s inadequate checklist use and crew coordination, and the known diminished capability of the airplane’s communication system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The business jet landed on the runway at the completion of a visual approach with the landing gear retracted. The airplane slid to a stop, and a post-crash fire ensued which resulted in the airplane sustaining substantial damage. The two pilots, the sole occupants, egressed the airplane successfully without injury. InProbably should state where the ground injury occurred. telephone interviews and written statements, the pilots each stated that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane that would have precluded deployment of the landing gear and a successful landing. The first officer further stated that the gear warning was only audible in the left seat (Captain’s) headset and was not heard in her headset (right seat) or the overhead speaker, and that the communications panel had a “history” of problems. Review of the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) confirmed the limitations of the airplane’s communication system, that the crew was aware of them, and that they discussed and debated how to mitigate the system’s limitations. The review also revealed that during the flights on the day of the accident, the performance of Before-Starting-Engines, Engine Start, Before Taxi, Before Takeoff, Before Landing and other tasks did not comport with the manufacturer’s checklists and were sometimes performed without any verbal communication between crewmembers. The CVR recording further revealed that the captain removed his headset due to a 500Hz “squeal” that he failed to identify as the gear warning horn, and consequently missed the repeating, “too low, gear” aural warning that followed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.