Good job – textbook execution! Glad the aircraft didn’t get damaged, but that should be the furthest from anyone’s mind in an emergency.
I’m wondering what the cirrus pilot would have done when experiencing an engine failure at 700ft. I had no choice but to go for a field.
Deploying the chute at that altitude seems risky to me. There were a lot of windmills around so there is a chance that you end up in a running windmill with the chute..
I know several people who decided to never again fly SEPs after such a forced landing. One person I know did 2 forced landings in PA46s due to engine breakup and switched to MEP.
I think there is a chance I might come to the same conclusion. When my hangar neighbor ditched into the Med in his P210 due to engine breakup, I almost gave up flying and didn’t fly for more than 6 months. Night flying in SEP is something I do not do anymore. I also gave up on my plan to fly to Oshkosh.
lenthamen wrote:
I’m wondering what the cirrus pilot would have done when experiencing an engine failure at 700ft. I had no choice but to go for a field.
Deploying the chute at that altitude seems risky to me. There were a lot of windmills around so there is a chance that you end up in a running windmill with the chute..
When looking at videos of Cirrus chute deployments, the occupants must live a few moments of sheer terror when deploying down low, given the nose down (near vertical) attitude of the plane until it stabilises.
lenthamen wrote:
I’m wondering what the cirrus pilot would have done when experiencing an engine failure at 700ft.
If you consider having no time for evaluating your options at 700ft. that means pulling the chute in a Cirrus immediately (500ft. AGL is taught to be the limit where you can pull.). Otherwise he would have done what you did: looking for a field.
Aviathor wrote:
When looking at videos of Cirrus chute deployments, the occupants must live a few moments of sheer terror when deploying down low, given the nose down (near vertical) attitude of the plane until it stabilises.
That is why this nose attitude should absolutely be a part of a serious passenger preflight briefing.
lenthamen wrote:
Deploying the chute at that altitude seems risky to me.
Deploying chute at any altitude is risky. I believe it’s more risky then most of us can imagine. You have no control. Buildings, trees, power lines, wind turbines etc – all obstacles that one can imagine. The higher up you are the more wind drift you will encounter.
Robin_253 wrote:
Deploying chute at any altitude is risky. I believe it’s more risky then most of us can imagine. You have no control. Buildings, trees, power lines, wind turbines etc – all obstacles that one can imagine.
I guess sometimes statistics help to ease the fear a little 
Congrats on the great bush-plane landing! Glad to hear you’re perfectly ok and everything went well.
Sorry the engine wasn’t as proficient as the pilot…
Thanks for the lesson about flaps and breaks, I didn’t know that. Hopefully, I’ll remember it, if I ever need to…
achimha wrote:
I also gave up on my plan to fly to Oshkosh.
ah man, what a bummer. Oshkosh is worth it.
Had the privilege to attend for the first time this year and I was absolutely overwhelmed. I’m now officially hooked…
I’d highly recommend it for anyone who truly loves aviation
europaxs wrote:
I guess sometimes statistics help to ease the fear a little
If you could share some statistics I think it would make up for a nice new thread.
Personally I can’t contribute due to lack of appropriate data. Having said that I witnessed several minor accidents during parachute training. Nothing life threatening but the sheer fact that in spite of extensive training, preparations and ideal meteorological conditions those accidents did occur tells me that deploying a shute is risky.
