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What do you plan to do when bad things happen on departure? Have a loss of engine power on take off? Hit a bird that damages the airplane sufficiently to make it hard to control? In a Cirrus, with the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, pilots have a unique opportunity to use this last-resort safety option...
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Recently an off-airport fatal accident happened in Morton, WA when the engine lost power during cruise. Another incident occurred not long ago in Buttonville, Ontario during which loss of engine power on departure caused the pilot to attempt a return to the airport. If your airplane loses power, you’re...
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Here's the third in our video series about what you could do if your engine fails shortly after takeoff. In the last videos (found here and here) we first looked at what would happen if the pilot attempted to return to the airport, with disastrous results. Next we tried to land straight ahead in...
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When invited to Germany to speak at the Baden-Baden CPPP, I took a pilgrimage to the site of the fatal Cirrus accident at Zurich Airport. It wasn't a planned trip. But it was an impactful one. Coming almost half-way around the world for this CPPP motivated me to spend some extra time here. And Baden...
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It was a day not unlike any other... early summer of 2006 if memory serves. The air was warm but not oppressive and I was well rested and healthy. I climbed into the cockpit with Brock sitting next to me in the left seat even though I was going to be the PIC for this flight. I needed a little practice...
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I thought I would post a blog entry about my observations on the use of the parachute in the simulator. I also have a regular client who has experienced a real life chute pull that has offered some great insight comparing the experience in the simulator that his real-life scare. Pulling the chute is...
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Lee Herring started the thread Manfred’s Lesson For Me with this reflection on the death of Manfred Stolle in a fatal Cirrus accident . Many COPA members appreciated these thoughts and wanted to preserve the post, so we asked Lee for permission to include it here. Manfred and I flew our planes...
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Prompted by the thought-provoking post by Craig Albright on when to pull the chute, let me amplify his analysis in this safety blog. Mantra of "Pull early, pull often!" It bothers some people. "Early" might be misconstrued as "immediately" without regard to other alternatives...
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Let's be straight. Flying is risky, and nothing can eliminate all of the risk. The CAPS parachute system offers a Cirrus pilot one last safety option. But it may not be the best option. The thread, G3 Turbo Down on Highway in Duluth Today , prompted several concerns. This incident involved a demonstration...
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As 2008 ends, we see some good news. Fewer fatal accidents, more CAPS saves and a decline in the fatal accident rate. The final quarter of 2008 had fewer fatal accidents than same dark months of Oct-Dec in 2007 or 2006 (3 vs 5 or 5 respectively). The last three months also had three CAPS activations...
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News reports from the recent Cirrus accident in Zurich, Switzerland, highlight the hazards and potential for delay when first responders arrive at a Cirrus accident. In this accident, the CAPS parachute had not deployed while the cockpit was severely damaged. That means that hazardous conditions exist...
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Four seconds before impact, the passenger in N91MB pulled the CAPS handle and three people survived although the pilot perished. Four seconds earlier and maybe all would have survived! The NTSB investigators reconstructed the flight profile of N91MB and detailed the last moments of Bob Edesses and his...
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On Saturday, the three people walked away from a Cirrus SR22 that had been in a spin close to the ground. CAPS worked. According to press reports and quotes from the pilot, the plane was descending on approach to a nearby airport when turbulence contributed to an upset, the plane went into a spin, pilot...
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Pull Early, Pull Often! That's the phrase that I posted for the first time on March 31, 2006. I encouraged Cirrus pilots to consider using the airframe parachute system, CAPS, earlier in the accident chain and more often in difficult situations. Every Cirrus aircraft has one. Yet, people were dying...