Section: Operations
Structure and discipline are critical, but the procedures have to be sensible.
Jan. 24, 2006, was a spectacularly clear winter day in Southern California. John "Jack" Francis and Andy Garratt were crewing a Citation V that departed Hailey Airport in Sun Valley, Idaho, bound for McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad, Calif. Aboard were Frank Jellinek Jr., recently retired chairman of Fisher Scientific and father of two children, along with Janet Shafran, mother of four. It was going to be just a brief stay in the San Diego area. Jellinek's father, Frank Sr., lived in the vicinity. Everyone planned to return to Sun Valley that afternoon.
The Santa Ana winds had abated at Palomar Airport. METARs reported five- to six-knot winds out of the east or northeast at Palomar and it was a chilly 40°F early that morning. The control tower had not yet opened, so Francis and Garratt planned an approach to Runway 24, which is the most commonly used runway. They began their descent for the airport about 30 minutes prior to arrival.
The published runway length for landing is 4,600 feet, measured from the PAPI touchdown point to the end of the overrun. The landing reference speed for a Citation V at max landing weight is 107 KIAS, according to Cessna's Flight Planning Guide. Its FAR Part 25 landing distance would have been 2,815 feet, assuming a maximum landing weight arrival, a 500-foot field elevation and 10°C outside air temperature and no wind conditions. Palomar's actual field elevation is 331 feet msl.
The initial descent profile was far too shallow for a stabilized, straight-in approach to Runway 24. The aircraft was just 17 miles northeast of the airport when it passed through 10,000 feet, according to the track records availabl ...