Cirrus SR-22 N9523P

Summary

On 18 January 2003 at about 12:38 local time, a Cirrus SR-22 registered N9523P was involved in an accident near Hill City, Minnesota, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 January 2003 at 12:38

Classification

Accident

Location

Hill City, Minnesota, United States

Coordinates

46.8911, -93.5967

Aircraft

Cirrus SR-22

Registration

N9523P

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Grand Rapids → St Cloud

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

CHI03FA057

2 people died.

Spatial disorientation experienced by the pilot, due to a lack of visual references, and a failure to maintain altitude. Contributing factors were the pilot's improper decision to attempt flight into marginal VFR conditions, his inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions, the low lighting condition (night) and the trees.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The Cirrus SR-22 aircraft was destroyed upon impact with trees and terrain following a loss of altitude during a turn. The accident site was located in relatively level, wooded terrain. The surrounding area was sparsely populated and heavily wooded. The accident occurred prior to civil twilight and marginal VFR weather conditions were reported at the departure airport. FAA radar data depicted an aircraft proceeding from the departure airport to the south, roughly paralleling a two-lane roadway. The aircraft initially leveled at 2,500 feet pressure altitude. The altitude gradually increased to 3,200 feet. Shortly afterward, the aircraft entered a descending left turn to reach a minimum altitude of 2,400 feet. This resulted in an average descent rate of 2,000 fpm. The aircraft immediately began a climb, as the radius of the left turn decreased noticably. Final radar contact was at 2,900 feet pressure altitude, 0.21 nautical miles, on a course of 278 degrees magnetic to the accident site. The rate of climb averaged 2,500 fpm between the final two radar data points. Several witnesses reported seeing an aircraft flying southbound shortly before the time of the accident. They reported the aircraft was relatively low and was traveling at a high rate of speed. None of the witnesses reported noticing any problems with the aircraft or engine. Witness reports of the weather conditions varied from mostly cloudy to clear, depending on their location. Impact angle was approximately 15 degrees nose down, based on observed tree strikes. The debris path was approximately 500 feet long and the aircraft was highly fragmented. A post accident examination of the aircraft and engine did not reveal any anomalies. The aircraft had logged 35.7 hours since new. The pilot held a private pilot certificate, with a single-engine land rating. He had logged 248.0 hours total time, including 57.0 hours of instrument time and 18.9 hours of night flight time. The pilot was the owner of the aircraft and had taken delivery nearly six weeks prior to the accident. He had completed a flight training program specific to the SR-22 aircraft. This resulted in a VFR-only completion certificate and a high-performance aircraft endorsement. The pilot had logged a total of 19.0 hours in the SR-22. This included 0.3 hour of actual instrument time and 2.3 hours of night flight time. The remaining flight time logged, with the exception of 1.0 hour, was in a Cessna 172 aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.