Four die in German Citation crash

Citation I N452TS the day before its accident (Photo: Martin Stevenson)

Four people have died in a German Citation crash, which happened on 12 January 2014 near Trier in Western Germany.

The Citation I N452TS photographed the day before its accident (Photo: Martin Stephen).

Four people travelling on board a US registered-Citation I private jet have died, after the aircraft came down near the small German town of Trier, around 190 km west of Frankfurt.

The aircraft was a 1982-build Citation 501 (msn 501-0231 / N452TS), which had departed from Shoreham Airport in the south of the UK and had been due to arrive at Fohren airport in Western Germany when the accident occurred.

Although the cause of the crash is currently unknown, the accident occurred in conditions of of low visibility. The aircraft is reported to have damaged electricity pylons as it came down and was ablaze when firefighters arrived.

There were four people on board the aircraft at the time of the accident, two pilots and two passengers. A spokesman for Trier-Fohren airfield said that all four occupants were German nationals.

The German Citation crash is the second fatal accident involving a private jet to occur in 2014 so far, after a Bombardier Challenger 601-3R (msn 5153 / N115WF) crashed at Aspen Pitkin County airport in the US, claiming one life and critically injuring another.

Although the exact number of accident private jet accidents in 2013 is yet to be confirmed, AIN has reported that US-registered business jets were involved in 14 total accidents last year, compared with 34 in 2012.