A Cessna Citation X, reportedly hangared at the Dunkirk Airport, was en route to Jamestown and then to Florida, according to airport officials. However, it is alleged by officials that at some point in the flight there may have been an electrical failure or an issue of some type of mechanical/equipment failure which prohibited the pilot from declaring an emergency or sending out a May-Day distress signal.

“We believe they lost all electric,” said Shannon Fischer, airport manager. “Both the pilot and co-pilot were able to walk away from the aircraft. The pilot was flown to UPMC and the co-pilot was transported to UPMC Chautauqua.”

“The pilot was flown for protocol,’ said PJ Wendel, Chautauqua County executive. “The other gentleman was alert and conscious.”

Fischer said that the pilot and co-pilot were both males.

Smoke can be seen from the crash at the airport.

According to Noel Guttman, director of Chautauqua County Emergency Services, approximately eight to 10 volunteer fire departments, ambulances and other vehicles responded to the scene.

“Once we understood that we weren’t fighting a fire with bodies still inside of it (the plane), it was a little easier mentally to deal with. … We were not short of any manpower. We had a lot of resources at hand,” Guttman said

Guttman added the biggest challenge was making sure there was enough water on hand to fight the fire.

Because responders were dealing with jet fuel, Guttman said foam was used to put out the fire. Guttman said there was no initial damage to the runway.

Fischer also stated, “Our guys noticed they (plane) were going down quickly, called 9-1-1 and got the firefighting truck out there quickly.”

The Jamestown Airport parking lot was filled with first responder vehicles from different Chautauqua County departments. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Fischer also said the survivability of the crew was due to their skills at aviation. “A good pilot and knowing how to make an emergency landing.” Fischer then talked about what the next steps would be.

“The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) will let us know when we can reopen,” said Fischer. “Also, the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and the plane’s insurance company will come out and inspect. Fischer added that the Environmental Protection Agency also will be contacted.

Fischer reported there was no long-term damage to the runway. She said the pilot, while landing short of the runway, kept control of the Cessna down the runway and landed the plane in the grass adjacent to the runway.

“They were about 200 feet short of the runway, but the pilot kept the plane straight and veered off the runway at the last second,” she said.

Wendel said there will be a debriefing of what went well and what can be improved.

The wreckage of a Cessna Citation X which crashed Monday at Jamestown Airport. Submitted photo

“From my position right now, what I saw today, things went very well and I can’t say enough about all our first responders in this part of the county,” Wendel said.

Wendel added the plane was not burning on the runway because crews moved it onto the grass.

According to soljets.com the Cessna Citation X boasts an incredible safety record with only one loss out of 314 units delivered as of 2021. This record underscores the aircraft’s reliability and the effectiveness of its design and operational protocols​​.

This is the second crash at the airport within the last 14 months.

On June 6, 2023, a single-engine plane crashed at Jamestown’s airport had just performed the second of two touch-and-go landings when it banked left and then right before crashing in a wooded area.

Killed in the Cirrus SR-22 were its owner, 52-year-old Roger Ryall of Toronto, and 52-year-old David Hughes of British Columbia. Ryall was piloting the aircraft.