Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Montgomery County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Gaithersburg, Maryland 20879
Sunday, March 15, 2009 13:43 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
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.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
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.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/15/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1343 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Gaithersburg |
| Event State | MARYLAND |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 20879 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390953N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0771019W |
| Event Location Airport | Montgomery County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GAI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 539 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1335 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 200 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GAI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 539 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 400 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 4 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.21 |
| 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) | 27090 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Witness |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 28 2010 3:05PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N213CP |
| NTSB Number | ERA09LA200 |
| 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 | SR22 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 3142 |
| 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 | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 23 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 17 |
| Airframe Hours | 117 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | N2877B LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Kalamazoo |
| Aircraft Owner State | MI |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 49008-2429 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | N2877B LLC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Kalamazoo |
| Operator State | MI |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 49008-2429 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GAI |
| Departure City | Gaithersburg |
| Departure State | MD |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1340 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AZO |
| Destination City | Kalamazoo |
| Destination State | MI |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 25 2010 12:20PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 4202 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |