For who hasn’t heard, yesterday, there has been another CAPS pull in Europe. The pilot used to post here occasionally years ago. I parked next to his SR22 last week in Mönchengladbach.
The aircraft was enroute from Mönchengladbach to Cambrigde and lost its prop (northeast of Bruges) just before heading across the Channel at FL100. Apparently, no airport was within reach (not even Ursel EBUL), and he elected to pull CAPS instead of a traditional deadstick landing in a field. No injuries.
My very first Cirrus flight was with John Zarno on this aircraft. I contacted John this morning, and he’s well.
Losing a prop is something we don’t see every day. I look forward to learning what caused the incident.
Good man. Exactly what the chute is there for.
I hope nobody was hit by that prop.
Crankshaft failure near the flange, most likely.
Not common. But perhaps the most common location if a crankshaft actually fails.
Looks as though the flange is still there in this pic.
Looks like a couple of the bolts are still there. They must have worked loose over time, and eventually the back of the prop hub flange broke up. Or a crack developed in the prop hub flange.
