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I was looking at NTSB statistics for Cirrus airplanes, and saw some patterns I thought important to address. I’ve written a piece that is by no means exhaustive, but meant to get pilots thinking about what they could do to improve their flying safety using the unique features Cirrus airplanes incorporate. You may read it ](http://bp2.blogger.com/_zOhUldPcfnQ/SE393uk1gcI/AAAAAAAAAF0/Q7bRcJxjWKs/s1600-h/RSP_0156.JPG)http://www.reggiepaulk.com/2008/07/questions-to-ask-your-cfii.htmlHERE
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I was looking at NTSB statistics for Cirrus airplanes, and saw some patterns I thought important to address. I’ve written a piece that is by no means exhaustive, but meant to get pilots thinking about what they could do to improve their flying safety using the unique features Cirrus airplanes incorporate. You may read it HERE
Hi Reggie,
You may have better luck with interest and responses to your post if you go to the members side for $65. Any issue that you write about or want to discuss has most likely already been discussed ad nauseam in the members section.
Reggie:
Good article…enjoyed it. made me think back to my training at Rio Vista where my instructor had me landing where the crossing was so strong that full deflection barely kept it on the rumway. Sage advise. I’m due for a refresher.
What type of flights do you suggest for Part II (CFIT/IFR) of your article. Or is it really just CDM (Critical Decision Making) that COPA is giving all around the country for it’s members? you really should join. it’s the best $65 ever spent…next to my first lesson.
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I was looking at NTSB statistics for Cirrus airplanes, and saw some patterns I thought important to address. I’ve written a piece that is by no means exhaustive, but meant to get pilots thinking about what they could do to improve their flying safety using the unique features Cirrus airplanes incorporate. You may read it HERE
This is Reggie… I’m now an official member under username rpaulk…
Reggie, congratulations on joining COPA.
As a proponent of many of COPA’s safety efforts, I appreciate any examination of patterns and suggestions for increasing safety are welcome. Thanks for spending the time to write your article.
However, the copy editor in me and the stickler for logical analysis prompts me to comment on a key paragraph:
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I decided to take a look at the NTSB’s record of fatal and non-fatal accidents for Cirrus aircraft going back to 1999, and I discovered patterns. What’s interesting to note is that almost all of the non-fatal accidents occur during the landing flare or go-around attempts. The fatal accidents almost always involve flight into terrain while maneuvering near airports both in visual and instrument meteorological conditions.
Please be very careful with making statements that use phrases like “almost all” and “almost always” when describing the patterns you observe. They are obvious generalizations without context or evidence.
Are these observations specific to Cirrus? Are the accidents you consider actually a majority or a smaller fraction of Cirrus accidents?
For non-fatal Cirrus accidents, I agree that many occur during landings. Do you have any data or opinions that put this observation in context or comparison with other types of aircraft? It seems likely true of most types of aircraft as that is the last phase of problem flights.
For fatal accidents, lots and lots of NTSB probable cause reports state impact with terrain because that is how the accident flight ended. And proximity to airports would be expected when accident flights are attempting to terminate successfully.
Here is some data. There have been 39 fatal Cirrus accidents and I count 19 near airports and 20 not near airports. So, the phrase “almost always” needs some qualification to be accurate.
Again, welcome to COPA, and as you have reposted this thread on the member side, I’ll continue there with some additional insights gained from the COPA safety work.
Cheers
Rick
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Hi Reggie,
Any issue that you write about or want to discuss has most likely already been discussed ad nauseam in the members section.
Hello Joe and thank you for your comments. There have been eight accidents involving 13 fatalities in Cirrus airplanes since January of this year, so I thought it prudent to add to the nauseam for safety’s sake.
Nice article. It sums up alot of our problems, and offers simple, realistic solutions.
Thanks.
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Hello Joe and thank you for your comments. There have been eight accidents involving 13 fatalities in Cirrus airplanes since January of this year, so I thought it prudent to add to the nauseam for safety’s sake.
For accuracy’s sake, please confirm the number of accidents since January. I believe that my data and the NTSB database show only 6 fatal Cirrus accidents with 13 fatalities.
Cheers
Rick
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Hello Joe and thank you for your comments. There have been eight accidents involving 13 fatalities in Cirrus airplanes since January of this year, so I thought it prudent to add to the nauseam for safety’s sake.
Reggie, there is nothing wrong with being prudent and writing about safety. Since you seem to want to engage the COPA crowd, why not join everyone on the members side? Everyone gets to learn not just the few who peruse the guest forum.
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For accuracy’s sake, please confirm the number of accidents since January. I believe that my data and the NTSB database show only 6 fatal Cirrus accidents with 13 fatalities.
Cheers
Rick
Hello Rick, There have been eight accidents/incidents since January. Six of those involved 13 fatalities. I could see how it could be misconstrued that there have been eight fatal accidents, but the unfortunate fact is it doesn’t lower the number of fatalities.
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Reggie, there is nothing wrong with being prudent and writing about safety. Since you seem to want to engage the COPA crowd, why not join everyone on the members side? Everyone gets to learn not just the few who peruse the guest forum.
Joe, I may be joining COPA, but I wanted to point out that there are 7983 registered users on the forum, and only 2839 of them are COPA members. I think the guest forum has the potential for the most eyeballs, unless I’m missing something. Please let me know.
Hello Jamie, thank you for your comments. There are definitely things you can do to reduce your chances of CFIT accidents. I think I can emphasize the point better with a couple of stories.
Years ago, my cousin and his best friend were aviation nuts. I had the opportunity to fly them both for a 100 dollar hamburger in a Piper Aztec, and saw the enthusiasm they both had for flying.
A couple years after that flight, the best friend had earned his private and instrument certificates, and was flying regularly with his future father-in-law. One night, he and his father-in-law were flying from the Denver area to a small airport (their home base) on the outskirts of the Colorado Springs Class C airspace, and something went wrong.
The father was a private-rated pilot with no instrument rating, but had a thousand or so hours under his belt. They were intimate with their knowledge of the area and had flown this particular flight dozens of times at night. As the two descended, they ended up flying into the trees at cruise speed with obvious consequences. How could this happen?
In my own opinion, there were quite a few factors that led up to the accident, but the fact is that when both men departed on that flight, neither one of them thought they were going to crash.
First of all, night flying and IMC are one and the same to me, and filing and flying an IFR flight plan is a way to reduce your risk. They had not filed any sort of flight plan. At some point during their flight, they encountered IMC conditions, and filing while airborne would have been an easy and safe option. The cloud formation they encountered is common in this area, and usually only localized around a rise in terrain known locally as The Black Forest. If timed right, descending through the layer will cause you to break out well above the area surrounding Colorado Springs. If timed wrong, you know what happens. Fly IFR at night.
One night I was flying a Mooney from Sterling, Colorado to Norman Oklahoma. I had filed an IFR flight plan as a matter of habit, and I was soon going to be thankful for that move.
The sky was crystal clear, but there was no moonlight. In that region of the country, there are very few farmhouses spread far apart, so ground-based lights are sparse, and reference to instruments is often necessary. Suddenly, I smelled smoke, and the whole outside world was completely black. The farmers were burning their fields, and the smoke was so thick, it was obscuring the whole sky. If I had not been instrument rated, I would have been in big trouble.
These are two examples of how decision-making can influence your flight safety, but there are flights you can take to hone your skills as well.
Controlled flight into terrain accidents seem counterintuitive. How do pilots fly perfectly good airplanes into mountains and trees without having a sense of foreboding? It’s very easy, really.
A Cirrus SR22 cruises at close to 220 miles per hour. You’re covering 3.6 statute miles every minute at that speed. If you want to see how quickly you can get into trouble in IMC or at night in mountainous terrain, just take a sectional chart and plot a couple circles at 3.6 and 7 miles away from your airport. (Aspen is a good one for this) If you overfly the center of the airport at pattern altitude, how many seconds do you have before you impact the nearest feature at your altitude? That’s the reality. You are flying a machine that rivals the speed of a dragster. When you get near the ground, your situational awareness is a necessity.
In order to demonstrate how this works, take your instructor to the nearest airport you fly out of that has obstacles of some sort. Do this during the day with no weather, of course. Overfly the airport at pattern altitude and fly toward the highest obstacle (hill) in the area, noting your time. As you approach the obstacle, make sure you do so at an angle, so you can safely turn away. (Just like mountain flying) How much time does it take to get there? If doing this during the day gets your attention, imagine doing that same flight at night or in IMC. Your vigilance needs to increase 100 fold during those conditions. Distractions of any kind can be fatal.
To further enhance your skills, make sure you fly instrument approaches into those same airports with your instructor riding shotgun. It should help your situational awareness, and your perception of what’s safe tremendously.
This was a long-winded answer to your question, but I hope it’s food for thought.
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Joe, I may be joining COPA, but I wanted to point out that there are 7983 registered users on the forum, and only 2839 of them are COPA members. I think the guest forum has the potential for the most eyeballs, unless I’m missing something. Please let me know.
Reggie,
The guest forum makes up an incredibly small percentage of the activity of the COPA boards. Most members don’t monitor it actively and I would gently suggest that the common perspective is that if you are serious about Cirrus joining the membership ranks is worthwhile for both you and the community. I don’t want to belabor the point. My reason for posting was simply to encourage you to take your efforts over to the members side where everyone can benefit.
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Reggie,
The guest forum makes up an incredibly small percentage of the activity of the COPA boards. Most members don’t monitor it actively and I would gently suggest that the common perspective is that if you are serious about Cirrus joining the membership ranks is worthwhile for both you and the community. I don’t want to belabor the point. My reason for posting was simply to encourage you to take your efforts over to the members side where everyone
can benefit.
That’s fair enough… Look for me on the member side soon.
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Reggie,
The guest forum makes up an incredibly small percentage of the activity of the COPA boards. Most members don’t monitor it actively and I would gently suggest that the common perspective is that if you are serious about Cirrus joining the membership ranks is worthwhile for both you and the community. I don’t want to belabor the point. My reason for posting was simply to encourage you to take your efforts over to the members side where everyone can benefit.
Hello Joe,
This is Reggie… I’m now an official member under username rpaulk…
