Accident Cessna 500 Citation I N610ED,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 320660

Date:	Friday 18 October 2013
Time:	10:17
Type:	Cessna 500 Citation I
Owner/operator:	Dufresne Inc.
Registration:	N610ED
MSN:	500-0241
Year of manufacture:	1975
Total airframe hrs:	7560 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-1A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	ca 3 km SE of Derby, KS - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Executive
Departure airport:	Wichita-Mid-Continent Airport, KS (ICT/KICT)
Destination airport:	New Braunfels Regional Airport, TX (KBAZ)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 500 Citation I corporate jet was destroyed when it impacted terrain near Derby, KS. Both occupants were killed.
The airplane was owned by California pastor Ed Dufresne of the World Harvest Church. He was on board the flight that departed Wichita-Mid-Continent Airport, KS (ICT) at 09:59, destined for New Braunfels Regional Airport, TX.
After climbing to and leveling at 15,000 feet, the airplane departed controlled flight, descended rapidly in a nose-down vertical dive, and impacted terrain; an explosion and postaccident fire occurred. Evidence at the accident site revealed that most of the wreckage was located in or near a single impact crater; however, the outer portion of the left wing impacted the ground about half a mile from the main wreckage.
Following the previous flight, the pilot reported to a maintenance person in another state that he had several malfunctioning flight instruments, including the autopilot, the horizontal situation indicator, and the artificial horizon gyros. The pilot, who was not a mechanic, had maintenance personnel replace the right side artificial horizon gyro but did not have any other maintenance performed at that time. The pilot was approved under an FAA exemption to operate the airplane as a single pilot; however, the exemption required that all equipment must be operational, including a fully functioning autopilot, flight director, and gyroscopic flight instruments. Despite the malfunctioning instruments, the pilot chose to take off and fly in instrument meteorological conditions.
At the time of the loss of control, the airplane had just entered an area with supercooled large water droplets and severe icing, which would have affected the airplane's flying characteristics. At the same time, the air traffic controller provided the pilot with a radio frequency change, a change in assigned altitude, and a slight routing change. It is likely that these instructions increased the pilot's workload as the airplane began to rapidly accumulate structural icing. Because of the malfunctioning instruments, it is likely that the pilot became disoriented while attempting to maneuver and maintain control of the airplane as the ice accumulated, which led to a loss of control.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The airplane's encounter with severe icing conditions, which resulted in structural icing, and the pilot's increased workload and subsequent disorientation while maneuvering in instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions with malfunctioning flight instruments, which led to the subsequent loss of airplane control. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's decision to takeoff in IFR conditions and fly a single-pilot operation without a functioning autopilot and with malfunctioning flight instruments."

Accident investigation: