Cessna 650 takes substantial hail damage due to pilot error

The NTSB has released the final report on the Cessna 650 that received substantial hail damage during a flight on June 13, 2025.According to the report, the flight was a personal flight with one passenger onboard. It was being flown by a commercial pilot receiving flight instruction. During the flight, the pilot attempted to fly over a line of bad weather. At flight level (FL) 410 and at 0.75 Mach, the jet encountered heavy turbulence and hail. The pilot descended to FL 350 and slowed to 0.68 Mach. Instead of attempting to land at the nearest suitable airport for safety, the pilot continued and landed at the planned destination almost 495 nm away. The Cessna 650 had damage to both wings, empennage and windshield.
The accident was not reported and was discovered three months later because of an anonymous complaint. The aircraft was at the owner’s hangar receiving repairs. The NTSB reports that the Cessna 650’s make and model was not certified for single-pilot operations and should have been flown by two pilots. The commercial pilot also did not hold a type rating for the aircraft nor met regulatory requirements to act as second-in-command for the flight.
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An airline transport pilot and flight instructor informed the NTSB that the accident could have been prevented if the commercial pilot had diverted about 80 to 100 miles north of the weather. There was no mechanical malfunction that would have prevented this diversion.
The NTSB concludes that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot’s improper judgment when circumnavigating the weather, which resulted in extensive hail damage to the jet.