A bit besides the point. The parachute turns non-survivable accidents into ones with no or limited injuries.
If I make a stupid mistake, I don’t want do die like a real man, I would like to dangle below the ’chute pondering my mistakes and getting my excuses straight.
The list of CAPS activations is here:
About half of the saves in this list were squarely pilot problems – loss of control of perfectly healthy aircraft and icing encounters feature prominently, together with the old stalwart of running out of fuel. Having the aircraft intact indeed removes the speculation, although I would guess that being able to talk to the pilot also helps…
A quite high number is engine failures. There are also a couple of mid-airs, and the well-know case of the pilot having a stroke.
In no case where CAPS was used was there a fatality and only some minor injuries. Around 110 occupants of Cirrus Aircraft made it to the ground safely in otherwise deadly situations. That’s all I need to know.
Like Aeroplus I would have maybe started looking at a used JetProp … but after 2 years of Cirrus I am already at the point where i wouldn’t want another airplane without BRS/CAPS.
There is no proof whatseoever that the handle was pulled and I think the rocket was triggered by the impact. But of course: If you pull below 400 feet your chances are slim that the chute will save you. The two lowest ones were 400 ft AGL – no injuries!
It is possible it got set off on impact but then I would be concerned if setting off that rocket propelled chute was so relatively easy. If a Cirrus crash routinely set off the rocket, you have a high probability of any spilt avgas getting ignited by the rocket exhaust. Pyrotechnic releases is a well established engineering discipline and it should be a lot more robust.
Also there is no evidence of the chute lying in the water, which one would definitely expect.
It has never happened. I think the forces when you hit the water with 200 knots… or who knows how fast … are so high that the rocket can easily ignite. Also: the ignition system was modified when the G5 was introduced and now all SR2xs are converted to that standard when the Chute is due after ten years.
And you know: If the plane crashes in a way that the rocket is ignited… ,well, i think it really doesn’t matter then if any Avgas flying around is ignited. But as I said: There has been no case where this has happened.
Shurely there cannot be such a high percentage of loss of power events with these engines being the peak of technology as I am being assured time and again on this very board.
Shorrick_Mk2 wrote:
these engines being the peak of technology as I am being assured time and again on this very board.
I don’t think anyone has ever claimed that on here.
It’s not a higher percentage than other engines. But with 6000 planes flying it will happen every now and then. Also keep in mind that these planes are beeing flown a lot and long distance mostly. There’s a statistic on COPA showing that there’s about 1 engine failure per 285.000 flight hours. That figure is valid for the SR22 from 2001 to 2007 .. i don’t think that’s bad.
Michael wrote:
Your “conclusion” completely ignores the ELEPHANT in the room: Cirrus crash and burn every day, just like their chute-less brethren …
Michael, I think your point misses DMEArcs point. DMEArc wasn’t making a point about crashing and burning accidents (where there was no parachute pull) nor about the benefit of saving lives.
His point was solely about saving the evidence of what went wrong. The fact that the airframe and engine returns to the ground in the same condition that it was when it stopped flying means that the accident investigators can easily identify what causes the problem, so the it can be prevented in the future.
Compare that to a traditional accident where they can’t be sure of anything ….. “Did that hose come off during the crash, or was it the cause of the engine failure?” Easy to answer if you’re looking an aircraft that landed in tact, under a parachute, but probably impossible to ask after a crash and burn accident.
