Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22 near Gaithersburg, MD — 2009-03-15

Final reportERA09LA200
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Date
2009-03-15
Location
Gaithersburg, MD, USA
Airport
GAI
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22
Registration
N213CP
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Initial climb

Probable cause

The pilot’s spatial disorientation after the passenger door opened during flight in instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to properly secure the door latch.

NTSB narrative

During the initial climb after takeoff on an instrument-flight-rules flight, as the airplane entered clouds about 700 to 1,000 feet above mean sea level, the passenger door opened about 2 to 3 inches, which allowed rain, cold air, and increased noise to enter the cockpit. The pilot said that he became spatially disoriented and that the airplane subsequently "stalled and started to spin." The pilot activated the Cirrus Airplane Parachute System and the airplane descended toward the ground. The left wing struck a parked vehicle and the airplane came to rest on a road about 1/2 mile west of the airport. The airplane's left wing was fractured and the empennage was separated just forward of the horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the airplane, which included the passenger door locking mechanism, did not reveal any mechanical anomalies. The pilot reported 327 hours of total flight experience, which included 161 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane, and about 7 and 63 hours of actual and simulated instrument flight experience, respectively. A weather observation taken at the departure airport about the time of the accident included a visibility of 2 miles and overcast clouds at 400 feet.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Spatial disorientation
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted the takeoff due to IMC conditions.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 9 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents9

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