Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22 near Bennett, CO — 2011-01-30

Final reportCEN11LA164
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Date
2011-01-30
Location
Bennett, CO, USA
Airport
FTG
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22
Registration
N787CB
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Maneuvering

Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during an instrument approach due to spatial disorientation.

NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he was practicing night instrument approaches in visual flight rules conditions. During the accident approach, he said he was in a right turn and had turned his head to the right to look at some instrumentation. He felt the airplane accelerate and looked at his flight displays, which indicated he was in an extreme unusual attitude, possibly inverted. He attempted to recover from the unusual attitude but realized that he had severe vertigo and spatial disorientation, so he activated the airplane’s ballistic parachute recovery system. After the parachute deployed, the airplane struck terrain in a nose low attitude, sustaining substantial damage. Postaccident inspection of the airplane disclosed no preimpact mechanical problems with the airplane. Federal Aviation Administration guidance indicates, that if neither horizon nor surface references exist, the attitude of an airplane must be determined by artificial means from the flight instruments. However, during periods of low visibility and night conditions, the supporting senses sometimes conflict with what is seen; when this happens, a pilot is particularly vulnerable to disorientation.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Spatial disorientation
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have avoided unusual attitude by maintaining better situational awareness.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • FDR / data
  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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