Parachute (CAPS) Indecision | Cirrus SR22T (N17DT) Flight Ends in a Fatal Accident

We outline the flight of a Cirrus SR22T on November 22, 2023 equipped with the CAPS parachute. The 2 pilots did not activate the parachute system (despite being at a sufficient altitude for activation) when in trouble. The pilots died upon impact with the ground in a corn field. An eye witness to the accident described the aircraft to be in a stall only 100-200' above the ground with the wings vertical at one point before the impact with the ground and subsequent fire. The CAPS system and the flight path of N17DT is described.
*(Condolences to all the families associated with this accident)*

*Excellent insight provided by a Cirrus pilot (YT username muledogmuledog8944)* There are two reasons the SR series didn’t get certification without the parachute. Lots of “old time” instructors, including a good friend of mine, died trying to land in a cornfield, while 3 friends I know have walked away pulling it. 1: It can’t recover from a spin. Arguably, with a CFI on board especially, that shouldn’t happen. 2: in 7 out of 10 cases, on flat grass field landings, let alone a corn field as you suggest, because of the low 3” clearance of the wheel pants, and the fwd cg of the engine, the plane cartwheels into a fireball when any other aircraft besides a cirrus could land uneventfully, or at least, without substantial damage causing fatal injuries. The dead CFI who wasn’t a CSIP shared your mindset, because he hadn’t participated in the engineer led safety courses at Cirrus I have, to fully understand the importance of using the chute. Also, I own 2 SR22 planes, as well as a Lance, DA62, and King Air 200, and while the latter 3 show buffeting and signs of impending stall, because of the split wing, the cirrus doesn’t. Not the slightest until the wing snaps over. A non-Cirrus instructor wouldn’t recognize it until it snapped over, and also wouldn’t grab the chute handle out of immediate instinct when it happens, obviously. I have no doubt of your competency, or the dead CFI’s in a 172 or a Malibu, but statistically, the in training flights, 32:1 non-cirrus instructors will perish in the event of engine failure over the CSIP who grabs the handle. For a reason. It takes a lot to unlearn the control we all agree to assume when we lose and engine with respect to maintaining stability all the way to the ground. With the airspeed tape on the very left of the perspective screen, in a panicky cockpit, it would have been a tough task for the right seat CFI vs a CSIP who would have pulled immediately to give canopy time to deploy. Buying a cirrus doesn’t buy additional safety, but additional risk if you don’t use the certification method required by the FAA to avoid cartwheel/fire and spin accidents.

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TIMESTAMPS
Introduction to CAPS 0:06
Accident PreFlight Briefing 0:35
FlightAware Flight Path 1:55
Departure 2:29
Circuit 1 3:55
Circuit 2 6:20
Critical Indecision 9:20
Post Accident Narration 11:02
CAPS Facts 11:30
Why did the pilots not pull the parachute 11:48
Final Words 13:00

Additional Resources:

Music
Ethereal by Punch Deck
Urano by Alex Productions
A Kind of Hope by Scott Buckley

#planecrash #emergency #documentary

[johnzarno]

I was CAPS save 119, when the propeller detached from my SR22 over Belgium only three days before these pilots died.

If ever there was a stark contrast that brings into focus the need to understand the vital benefit that CAPS / BRS brings to flying single engine aircraft, this is it.

[petezny]

Excuse me I'm an old timer but I would question flight training that emphasized pulling a parachute rather than learning how to fly the plane properly as this video suggests. This was a stall spin accident over corn fields that should not have resulted in a fatality or even damage to the aircraft. Given the unlimited corn fields northwest of Shelbyville I would have landed the aircraft. Back in the stone age when I was an instructor we drilled power off landings over and over again. I had every confidence that any of my students would walk away from engine failure over anything other than a congested city. The key here was maintaining airspeed, not failing to pull a parachute. A controlled landing, even into fences or trees rarely results in a fatality or even a serious injury. A stall spin however is usually fatal.

[drewm]

My thoughts on why they didnt pull the chute was I think in the heat of the moment they forgot about it. I fly at a Cirrus SR 20 flight school, and I have heard instructors say numerous times that during simulated emergencies in the sim, students forget about CAPS completely. Just my thoughts from my experiences.

[idekav.]

Sounds like a proficiency problem more than an indecisive caps problem sir.

[jamesgraham]

Difficult to understand why this should not have been a 'non-event', with or without a parachute.. The aircraft was sufficiently under control, carrying enough speed and with a huge open flat piece of real estate to land on..and, an instructor aboard. Most of these aircraft are selling for around 1 million $$$.. I can't help but think many of them are being sold to people who think that money can buy safety, it can't.. maybe in times of high stress, people are being distracted by TV screens instead of getting the basics right. I recommend sticking with a $75, 000 C172 and the simplest of analog instruments for a few hundred hours.

[Great-Documentaries]

You can just imagine the 59 year old instructor saying pull the chute! And the newbie owner of the aircraft not wanting to because he believes the aircraft will be less of a wreck if they land it in a cornfield.
Fatal mistake.

[dermick]

This is a baffling accident. Many things must have gone wrong. I hope we can find out what happened and learn from the tragic loss of these two people. Impressive work on the video!

[evandunstone]

I would like to know the condition of the field they were trying to land on. This should have been a successful forced landing. I wonder if there was some feature of the field that caused a last minute panicked control input causing a stall?

[larryrichards]

Just watched another video in which a guy lost his engine over the Rockies and was able to successfully land at Aspen. He had more altitude to play with but even this engine out was at an altitude that should have allowed a turn back to the airport and even if it didn't there were plenty of cornfields in front of him. I was under the impression (and I'm not a Cirrus pilot) that the reason they have the CAPS is because it can be difficult to recover from a spin. Is Cirrus teaching that the response to losing an engine is to pull the chute? Guess it's a way to sell more planes but I spent many hours learning to fly and land a dead stick plane. Maybe the newer pilots are relying too much on technology. My first cross country was done with 2 OMNI's and a map in my lap looking for the name of the town on a smokestack. The new technology is great and I love having a magenta line showing me where I am and where I'm going as well as having the Garmin lock onto the approach and fly it for me but there is something to be said for ded reckoning and old fashioned stick and rudder skills.

[jerrymarshall]

U know it's about to get bad when the funeral music starts

[MaxMustermann-nduy]

After actually analyzing the flightaware data and the NTSB-Report, the situation was likely the following:
They did two poorly coordinated approaches that were too fast and too high. After the second go-around that was initially OK, the plane did not turn into downwind but continued crosswind, loosing airspeed and then decending (first near stall speed at 60kt ground, 69 kt air speed, then increasing speed again). It seems like they were turning while doing that. Last flightaware was at 500 ft AGL and 81 kt airspeed (72 kt ground speed).

A whitness reports a stall-spin accident at an estimated 200 ft. AGL. The flight controls were intact no flaps were set.

Conditions were good wather, all surrounded by empty corn fields, no icing, no gusts.

To me, it appears as if there was some mishandling going on in the cockpit. Even if there were an engine failure, for which there is no evidence, this plane could have been easily landed. The question should really be what the FI was doing. Was he experienced? Either he was inexperienced or incapacitated, or both pilot and FI got highly distracted, which is hard to imagine.

[brookelipoff]

What are the chances the parachute failed? I see a lot asking why it wasn’t pulled but is there a possibility it was and didn’t deploy? Then it was clearly too late/panic, then the spin.

[williamfox]

Who trains to pull a parachute when the engine fails at pattern altitude near the airport and while flying over corn fields? I've never flown a Cirrus, but I seriously doubt anyone trains for this scenario. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I also question the assumption that pulling the chute is the best action in this situation. Any private pilot and certainly any CFI has flown hundreds of engine out drills and should have been able to bring the plane down without stalling it. I agree with others here that there may be more to uncover.

Regarding the video, my initial impression was that it was a promotional piece by Cirrus, given its content and style. The pilots should not be faulted for "failing" to activate the chute. They probably reacted just as they had been trained. I would have made the same decision.

[tonkerdog]

What was the reason for it descending, and why couldn’t they glide into a field? CAPS should be last choice.

[allgi]

Well, the real question should be about the reasons why Cirrus planes have so many problems that they need to deploy their parachutes. If it didn't break down in flight, I wouldn't need a parachute!

[mts]

what went wrong with plane for them to need the parachute?

[gzknk]

This isn't indecision. It's inability to fly the aeroplane. It clearly stalled and spun-in from low altitude. There was no need to pull the 'chute - there were plenty of places to put the aeroplane down in one piece if the engine had failed and it seems likely that was their aim - until they stalled it.

[Mikinct]

Ok,
But it still doesn't fully explain why they nosed dived into cornfield?

Did ADSB show they stalled the plane at any time & simply lost airspeed & lift?

The only time planes "fall out of the sky" is if they stalled the wings by forgetting to maintain proper safe glide speed.

Planes are essential Gliders, they can glide safely to land in runway or cornfield as long as one doesn't try to bank or turn or pulls up stalling the plane.

Parachutes are a great Backup system but one must learn & practice how to spot land your plane with a practiced engine out into a open field void of trees etc.

[schattmultz]

Thank you for posting. Followed this closely due to it being 30mins from home. Wondered what happened

[xbpbatx]

just because your aircraft is equipped with a parachute doesn't mean to forget everything you learned about emergency landings. CAPS is a relatively new line of safety measures...more of a crutch in my opinion. "why practice emergency landings when i can pull the chute"