Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Luna, New Mexico 87824
Monday, April 9, 2007 11:59 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he was climbing from 15,000 feet to 16,000 feet to avoid building thunderstorms and snow showers. The pilot reported that he was in instrument meteorological conditions when the airspeed indication started to decrease and then the airspeed and altimeter readouts, within the primary flight display, went to "hash marks." The pilot stated that he manually overrode the autopilot to initiate a descent, and turned the pitot heat on. The pilot report that shortly thereafter the airspeed indication returned. The pilot sensed that he was in a descent and "pulled back" to slow the airplane down and the attitude indicator went "haywire." The terrain warning system activated and the pilot elected to activate the ballistic recovery parachute on the airplane. The airplane impacted trees and came to rest inverted at the top of several trees, resulting in substantial damage. In later telephone conversations with the pilot, he was asked about the position of the pitot heat, during the course of the flight. The pilot stated that he was not continuously in the clouds and the pitot heat remained off. He stated further that initially, he might have inadvertently turned the icing protection system on instead of the pitot heat. The switches are right next to each other. An examination of the primary flight display, and multi-function display revealed a loss of air data, due to pitot tube icing. An examination of the remaining airplane systems revealed no anomalies.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to activate the pitot heat while flying in the clouds and visible moisture, resulting in pitot tube contamination and the subsequent loss of air data for the primary flight display. Contributing to the accident was the icing conditions, and the pilot's subsequent spatial disorientation.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/9/2007
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1159
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Luna
Event State NEW MEXICO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 87824
Event Date Year 2007
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 340217N
Event Location Longitude 1085408W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1054 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID KSJN
Elevation of weather observation facility 5743
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 43
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 8500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 3800
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 6
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 15
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 23
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.92
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 22138
NTSB Notification Source Cirrus Design Corp.
NTSB Notification Date Apr 9 2007 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Aug 30 2007 12:18PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Albuquerque

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N953CD
NTSB Number DEN07LA082
Missing Aircraft Indicator Y
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
Aircraft Model SR22
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1766
Certified Max Gross Weight 3400
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Mar 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 57.6
Airframe Hours 591.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name JCT 3 Leasing LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 6610 S High St
Aircraft Owner City Centennial
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80121
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
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 No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code AVQ
Departure City Tuscon
Departure State AZ
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 952
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code APA
Destination City Englewood
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 16 2007 10:49AM
User who most recently changed record BOWL
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --