Look at this image: Very similar to what we see on the photo … Maybe to low, engine failure and stalled/spun at low altitude ….. But of course that’s just guessing I just found the similarities stunning … (found that on COPA)
(The SR22 that crashed in the Bahamas, four people dead …) Just in case you have not seen it:
Video of an SR22 descending on the chute
Not often you see this
That was in Australia. I understand from the locals there the pilot is a former UK Cirrus dealer.
more info here:
Cirrus Chute – Post Accident Investigations
I was internally analyzing the differences between the recent Bonanza & Cirrus forced landings. As we know, the Cirrus outcome was better. One item did strike me about Cirrus investigations after a chute pull – the emergency condition that causes the accident becomes frozen in time.
Think about it – light aircraft crash each day, most fatal accidents result in a ‘heap’ of material and the accident investigator does their best to understand what happened. It’s difficult, it’s guess work and often one isn’t to know if an issue was a cause or result of the crash. Now, with Cirrus accident investigations, the condition that causes the chute pull (where chute pulls have become replacements to fatal accidents) is frozen and ready for analysis – be it, an oil pipe becoming undone or log files on data cards still in tact.
The resultant to access to this kind of information is that it becomes much easier to remedy the issues when they can be readily identified. My conclusion is that not only have chute pulls reduced fatal accidents in recent times, the knowledge gained from these crash sites will further reduce chute pulls in the future (i.e. like a positive spiral). Therefore, the long term statistics could potentially be rather impressive by GA standards.
Just my 2c…
A very astute and interesting observation!
And yet many ( presumably macho) pilots insist that pulling the chute should be the last option to consider.
What have been the pull causes so far?
The CAPS/chute option is the reason I fly the SR22T instead of a Jetprop. I know, the Jetprop has this engine that theoretically cannot fail, but has a ground-prop distance that prohibits flying the jetprop with ease into grass strips, where the new props on the SR22T give it a lot of room between the prop and ground and thus makes it easy to fly the Cirrus into grass strips. Having the option to fly into these odd airstrips is something that I like to do (if there happens to be something interesting to visit there). I would regret having to fly to a paved runway further away…
Back to the chute: that thing is amazing and really saving lives. Even my wife got a special training on how to deal with an emergency in case I would become incapacitated. She is able to handle the AP, talk to ATC, reduce speed, handle the CAPS, etc. She did this training twice and we practise enroute here and there.
DMEarc wrote:
My conclusion is that not only have chute pulls reduced fatal accidents in recent times, the knowledge gained from these crash sites will further reduce chute pulls in the future (i.e. like a positive spiral). Therefore, the long term statistics could potentially be rather impressive by GA standards.
Your “conclusion” completely ignores the ELEPHANT in the room: Cirrus crash and burn every day, just like their chute-less brethren …
