Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Blue Grass Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lexington, Kentucky 40501
Saturday, March 16, 2002 12:40 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The instrument rated pilot and passenger departed into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and intended to practice some instrument approaches. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported a turn coordinator failure. The turn coordinator indicated a left bank regardless of control inputs and the pilot became disoriented. The airplane was equipped with a Cirrus Airplane Parachute System (CAPS). The pilot stated he pulled the CAPS activation handle repeatedly; however, the cable did not extend and "nothing seemed to happen." The airplane broke out of the cloud layer, and the pilot performed an emergency landing to a field. Witnesses near the accident site reported that the CAPS parachute deployed after ground contact. Post accident testing of the wreckage did not reveal any pre-impact instrumentation, or autopilot failures. The CAPS system also functioned normally; however, it was noted that the pull forces to activate the CAPS parachute varied significantly.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control. Factors in this accident were the undetermined failure of the turn coordinator, as reported by the pilot, and the instrument meteorological conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/16/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1240 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Lexington |
| Event State | KENTUCKY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 40501 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 380400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0843400W |
| Event Location Airport | BLUE GRASS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | LEX |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 45 |
| Airport Elevation | 979 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 45 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LEX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 979 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 6 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.18 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13004 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 16 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1430 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 17 2003 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Louisville |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N244CD |
| NTSB Number | NYC02LA071 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Cirrus Design Corp. |
| Aircraft Model | SR-20 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1140 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 6 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 150 |
| Airframe Hours | 0 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | P & S Products Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Lexington |
| Aircraft Owner State | KY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 40510 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Paul A. Heflin |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Lexington |
| Operator State | KY |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 40513 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | LEX |
| Departure City | LEXINGTON |
| Departure State | KY |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1235 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | LEX |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | KY |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 23 2002 11:32AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 4 |
| Runway Length | 7003 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |