Cessna 560 accident near Pueblo, Colorado, February 16, 2005
On February 16, 2005 at about 4:13 pm local time, a Cessna 560, registered N500AT, was destroyed in an accident near Pueblo, Colorado (Pueblo Memorial Airport). It was an executive or corporate flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). 8 people were killed. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the flight crew's failure to effectively monitor and maintain airspeed and comply with procedures for deice boot activation on the approach, which caused an aerodynamic stall from which they did not recover. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to establish adequate certification requirements for flight into icing conditions, which led to the inadequate stall warning margin provided by the airplane's stall warning system.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- February 16, 2005 · about 4:13 pm local time
- Place
- Pueblo, Colorado · Pueblo Memorial Airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 8 people were killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 560 · all 560s on the register
- Registration
- N500AT · registry record · serial 560-0146
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Executive or corporate flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-07/02. On February 16, 2005, about 0913 mountain standard time, a Cessna Citation 560, N500AT, operated by Martinair, Inc., for Circuit City Stores, Inc., crashed about 4 nautical miles east of Pueblo Memorial Airport, Pueblo, Colorado, while on an instrument landing system approach to runway 26R. The two pilots and six passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,577 hours in all; 2,735 in this make and model; 113 in the last 90 days; 39 in the last 30 days; 4,452 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: November 1, 2004
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (with waivers/limitations)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
Co-pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,614 hours in all; 334 in this make and model; 127 in the last 90 days; 37 in the last 30 days; 1,346 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: February 1, 2005
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: rgt
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,657.5 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, December 1, 2004; 54.5 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 19,000 lb
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5A (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: Columbia MO at 2:00 pm
- Destination: PUB Pueblo CO
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 26R, 10,496 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 8 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 900 ft
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 23°F (-5°C)
- Altimeter: 30.15 inHg
- Observation at 3:53 pm from KPUB, 3 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 6 |
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.