First full disclosure...I have 0 hrs Citation time. However, I was around them a lot. I had a lot of good friends that were Citation pilots. Also, I have no idea what really caused the accident. Just throwing my 2 cents out there for discussion. Also, in no way am I faulting the pilots. They were there & we weren't. Easy to criticize what you don't know for sure.

I'll disagree with proceeding to another airport if there was some impending emergency, which we don't know for sure. The nose baggage area is suspect, along with the pitot covers that were pointed out in another YT. But, the Citation, fully loaded should be able to climb (clean) to the altitudes necessary (3400' MSL, or about 2500' above the local terrain) to intercept the ILS & land back at Statesville. However it appears  they chose to scud-run & clipped the trees & approach lights. Scud-running is usually legal, though it's the pilot's job to miss obstacles. When one says a "bigger airport", let me say that Statesville is a general aviation dream. 7000' x 100' runway. That is BIG. Full ILS is down to 200' x 1/2 mis. Nothing better for this plane. Even with a tail wind, the Citation could probably roll to a stop on 4000' with no braking unless one had a lot of touchdown speed, which it didn't appear they would've had. Most of the early ones didn't have reversers. I'm not sure what the weather was at the airport 40 mis away. It wasn't all that bad @ Statesville re. IFR flight.

I also don't think the "single pilot" operation, legal or not, had much to do with it. The SP Citation isn't built much different than other Citations. 1 pilot can fly it, though for legal reasons pertaining to paying passenger flights (which was not the case here) 2 pilots are normally required. Insurance companies often dictate it also. Neither have anything to do with the physical handling of the machine. Primary controls are all set in the center & easily accessible. FAA requires a separate check ride for single pilot ops. I had a 135 (aircraft charter) operation & was approved for single pilot IFR. Again, not in a Citation.

Those are my thoughts. We'll see what plays out here. In the beginning, no one wants to question pilot mistakes, but they are made, often as contributing factors. In the end, it was sad for all involved.