Matt Thurber, editor-in-chief at AIN Media Group, has been flying since 1975 and writing about aviation since 1978 and now has the best job in the world, running editorial operations for Aviation International News, Business Jet Traveler, and FutureFlight.aero. In addition to working as an A&amp;P mechanic on everything from Piper Cubs to turboprops, Matt taught flying at his father’s flight school in Plymouth, Mass., in the early 1980s, flew for an aircraft owner/pilot, and for two summer seasons hunted swordfish near the George’s Banks off the East Coast from a Piper Super Cub. An ATP certificated fixed-wing pilot and CFII and commercial helicopter pilot, Matt is type-rated in the Citation 500 and Gulfstream V/550. Based in the Pacific Northwest, Matt and his team cover the entire aviation scene including business aircraft, helicopters, avionics, safety, manufacturing, charter, fractionals, technology, air transport, advanced air mobility, defense, and other subjects of interest to AIN, BJT, and FutureFlight readers.

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Both pilots escaped the burning wreckage of a Cessna Citation X+ after the business jet touched down 200 feet short of Runway 25 at Jamestown Airport (KJHW) in New York on August 5 and subsequently impacted runway lighting. After sliding along the runway centerline, the jet departed the runway’s left side and came to rest 2,150 feet from the initial impact point, according to the NTSB preliminary report.
The Citation X+ is owned by Access Stripe, a pavement striping company based in Orchard Park, New York. The FAA registry shows that the company also owns a Cessna 182T. The Citation X+ is the final X model produced by Textron Aviation and is equipped with Garmin G5000 avionics.
Two pilots were the only people on board, and they departed Chautauqua County Dunkirk Airport (KDKK) on a flight plan to Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport in Florida, “to collect airplane parts and a mechanic for work on another company airplane back at DKK,” the NTSB preliminary report explained. After taking off and climbing to 10,000 feet, the Buffalo, New York approach controller radioed the pilots to expect their flight-planned altitude of FL470 in 10 minutes, but there was no response from the pilots.
The controller kept trying to contact the pilots and tried a Cleveland controller to see if the pilots had switched frequencies. With no contact, the controller tried the emergency frequency with no success and then noticed that the flight was transmitting 7700, the transponder emergency code, and that the Citation was descending through 7,800 feet. “Later, the Buffalo controller established intermittent contact with the flight crew, that included ‘very garbled’ transmissions,” the report said. “The last transmission from the flight crew included ‘we are about to land at Jamestown.’”
According to flight tracking data, the Citation climbed in a southerly direction to 10,000 feet for a minute, then began descending and flew west of KJHW and flew “a left, descending, decelerating, 270-degree turn to align with Runway 25. The final target showed the airplane aligned with the runway at 1,625 ft and 150 knots. The airplane impacted the ground in a flat attitude about 200 feet before the approach end of Runway 25 at [Jamestown], which was located at an elevation of 1,723 feet.”
After the accident, the injured pilot wasn’t “immediately available” to be interviewed. The NTSB reported that the copilot said he smelled electrical smoke while climbing through 5,000 feet. The pilot didn’t smell the smoke, and the smell seemed to disappear. But then at 8,000 feet, they could both smell “electrical smoke,” although they couldn’t see any smoke. While descending through 10,000 feet, “the copilot said he heard the ‘clacker’ for the pitch trim and that the airplane was ‘trimming down and accelerating…well over 250 [knots] with the nose trimming down.’” After master caution and CAS panel lights illuminated, the copilot tried to contact the controller, and “he noticed that ‘Comm 2 had failed, and the Garmin 5000 had big, red X’s.’”
Once the jet came to rest, the cabin was full of smoke and the airplane was surrounded by fire. The pilot managed to open the main cabin door, and they both exited the burning wreckage.
No mechanical anomalies were found when the NTSB checked flight control continuity other than thermally damaged speed brake and spoiler cables. Investigators also found no anomalies with the Citation’s two Rolls-Royce DE3007C2 engines. The cockpit voice recorder was retained and the NTSB planned to download its data.

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