Three people, including the pilot, of a Cessna Citation CJ2+ perished Friday morning when the aircraft plowed into a wooded area just minutes after takeoff from Sellersburg, Indiana’s Jefferson-Clark Regional Airport (JVY). The aircraft was headed for Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) when it departed JVY about 11:24 local time.
According to the the FAA, contact with the flight was lost about four minutes after departure from JVY’s Runway 36. The aircraft was later located about 7.5 miles north-northwest of the airport at the end of a debris trail near a number of blackened trees. The aircraft, registered to and operated by Estoair LLC of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was destroyed by a post-crash fire. A local Clark County sheriff’s deputy said there were no recognizable pieces of the aircraft found on the scene. The CJ’s pilot was employed by TEG Architects, owned by one of the people aboard the aircraft.
Flight Aware’s last ADS-B paint on the jet showed it heading west at 320 knots and climbing through 6,100 feet at which point it should have been under the control of Indianapolis Center. While it’s too early to rule out possible causes for the crash, the weather at the time of the accident included light winds from the east, although the clouds were low. No rain was reported in the area.
The Louisville Courier Journal reported the aircraft was carrying the Louisville Soccer Club’s co-founder, as well as two other individuals. The media outlet also reported the pilot turned the aircraft around before contact was lost, although evidence supporting that claim has not been made public. The investigation is now in the hands of the National Transportation Safety Board.
