Cessna 750 Citation X

The airplane departed Dunkirk-Chautauqua County Airport, State of New York, on a ferry flight to Fort-Lauderdale-Executive Airport, carrying a crew of two. After he reached the altitude of 10,000 feet, the crew reported technical problems with the onboard electric system and elected to divert to Jamestown-Chautauqua County Airport. On final approach to runway 25, at an airspeed of 157 knots and with a rate of descent of 1,000 feet per minute, the airplane impacted the ground at runway threshold and went out of control. It caught fire, veered off runway to the left and came to rest in a grassy area, bursting into flames. Both crew members were rescued with various injuries. The airplane was totally destroyed by fire.

The flight crew of the business jet reported that after touching down on runway centerline the airplane was struck by a gust of wind from the right. They were able to keep the airplane on the runway centerline but were subsequently struck by another more powerful gust, which pushed the airplane off the left side of the runway. The runway excursion resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage and left wing. A posaccident review of weather radar data showed that a severe thunderstorm (for which a tornado warning had been issued) was present to the west of the airport and was rapidly moving east. There was a convective SIGMET valid for the airport at the time of the accident. The pilot-in-command reported checking relevant weather information before the flight, that the airplane was equipped with an operational onboard weather radar system, and that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

The crew was engaged in a local test flight at La Carlota-General Francisco de Miranda AFB in Caracas. During the takeoff roll, a tire burst on the right main gear that collapsed and was torn off. The airplane veered off runway to the left then the left main gear collapsed as well and the airplane came to rest on its belly with the nose gear still extended. There were no injuries among the crew.