Cessna 550 accident near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 4, 2007
On June 4, 2007 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Cessna 550, registered N550BP, was destroyed in an accident near Milwaukee, Wisconsin (General Mitchell International airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 6 people were killed. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the pilots’ mismanagement of an abnormal flight control situation through improper actions, including failing to control airspeed and to prioritize control of the airplane, and lack of crew coordination. Contributing to the accident were Marlin Air’s operational safety deficiencies, including the inadequate checkrides administered by Marlin Air’s chief pilot/check airman, and the Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to detect and correct those deficiencies, which placed a pilot who inadequately emphasized safety in the position of company chief pilot and designated check airman and placed an ill-prepared pilot in the first officer’s seat.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 4, 2007 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin · General Mitchell International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 6 people were killed.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 550 · all 550s on the register
- Registration
- N550BP · registry record · serial 550-0246
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/A_Acc1.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-09/06. On June 4, 2007, about 1600 central daylight time, a Cessna Citation 550, N550BP, impacted Lake Michigan shortly after departure from General Mitchell International Airport, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (MKE). The two pilots and four passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was being operated by Marlin Air under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 and departed MKE about 1557 with an intended destination of Willow Run Airport, near Ypsilanti, Michigan. At the time of the accident flight, marginal visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the surface, and instrument meteorological conditions prevailed aloft; the flight operated on an instrument flight rules flight plan.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor, private
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 14,000 hours in all
- Last flight review: April 1, 2007
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
Co-pilot
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 4,402 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, March 1, 2007; 90 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 13,300 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Pratt & Whitney JT15D-4 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Pratt & Whitney JT15D-4 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Marlin Air INC
The flight
- Departed from: MKE Milwaukee WI at 8:57 pm
- Destination: YIP Detroit MI
- Flight plan: IFR
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 340° at 10 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,000 ft; clear
- Temperature: 63°F (17°C), dew point 59°F (15°C)
- Altimeter: 29.53 inHg
- Observation at 8:52 pm from MKE, 5 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 4 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.