Pilot Debrief

CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22 near Durango, CO — 2014-06-01

Final reportCEN14LA277
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Date
2014-06-01
Location
Durango, CO, USA
Airport
00C
Aircraft
CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR22
Registration
N583KM
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

Probable cause

The student pilot’s decision to fly solo into an unfamiliar, mountain airport during high-wind conditions. Contributing to the accident was a partial loss of engine power during the attempted go-around, which was caused by an over-rich mixture setting.

NTSB narrative

The student pilot was conducting a solo flight from his home airport on the coast to an airport located in the mountains. Just before landing, the airplane encountered a "strong downward gust," likely due to a combination of high-wind conditions (the local weather was wind at 16 knots gusting to 24 knots about the time of the accident) and a steep terrain dropoff near the approach end of the runway. The pilot attempted a go-around, but the engine did not respond with full power. He subsequently lost control of the airplane, which then impacted left of the runway. The pilot reported that the mixture might have been "too rich" during the go-around attempt. Examination of the engine revealed excessive sooting on the spark plugs, which is indicative of an over-rich mixture condition; this condition likely resulted in the partial loss of engine power during the go-around attempt. The student pilot had not flown into the mountain airport before and had not been cleared to fly the route by a flight instructor.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Human factors
First missed decision gate
Pilot should not have attempted solo flight to 00C without instructor clearance.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 5 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents5

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