The NTSB has released its findings into the 2024 Cessna Citation V runway overrun at Pagosa Springs, Colorado, concluding that inadequate preflight planning and inspection preceded the accident. Investigators determined the aircraft attempted departure while contaminated with snow and above its maximum takeoff weight.

The rejected takeoff was initiated above the aircraft’s decision speed, according to the investigation. The case provides a particularly direct reminder of how aircraft contamination, performance calculations and go/no-go decisions can combine rapidly into an unrecoverable situation during the takeoff roll.

NVOII is highlighting the final findings because they provide business aviation crews with operational lessons extending well beyond the Citation V itself. Winter contamination requires disciplined inspection and performance planning, while a high-speed rejected takeoff introduces substantial runway-distance and energy-management challenges once an aircraft is already accelerating toward flight.

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