Cirrus SR20 N610DA

Summary

On 22 July 2015 at about 14:44 local time, a Cirrus SR20 registered N610DA was involved in an accident near Lake Wales, Florida, United States. 2 people were on board and one died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 July 2015 at 14:44

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Wales, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Lake Wales Airport (X07)

Coordinates

27.8922, -81.6119

Aircraft

Cirrus SR20

Registration

N610DA

Category

Airplane

Year built

2007

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Sanford → Fort Myers

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15FA277

1 person died.

A partial loss of engine power due to oil starvation. Contributing was the flight instructor's failure to maintain control of the airplane during an aborted emergency landing, and his delayed decision to deploy the airplane's parachute system.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor reported that, during an instructional flight and while demonstrating how to change the route in the GPS, he noticed a "puff" of black smoke appear from under the legs of the pilot receiving instruction. The smoke dissipated quickly, and seconds later, the oil pressure light illuminated, accompanied by an aural warning. The flight instructor took control of the airplane and declared an emergency before diverting to a nearby airport. The flight instructor stated that, while on short final approach for landing, he thought "he was too high and going too fast to make the runway." He could not slow the airplane sufficiently for a safe landing and decided to conduct a go-around; however, when he advanced the throttle, the engine did not respond. When the airplane was about 400 ft above ground level, he instructed the pilot receiving instruction to activate the airframe parachute; however, the parachute did not arrest the descent before the airplane crashed in wooded terrain. The flight instructor was seriously injured, and the pilot receiving instruction was fatally injured. Postaccident examination of the engine revealed that the oil control rings on all the pistons were stuck. The oil ports on the pistons were clogged, and coking was present. The Nos. 1 through 3 connecting rod bearings showed evidence of the beginning stages of oil starvation. Review of the maintenance logbooks Revealed that during the two months preceding the accident, engine oil consumption increased significantly. It is likely that the engine consumed more oil in the month before the accident due to the stuck oil control rings, which caused the engine case to pressurize and vent oil overboard via the breather tube, consistent with the large amount of oil residue noted on the underside of the fuselage during the wreckage examination. The vented oil also likely resulted in the "puff" of smoke that the instructor saw during the flight. Data downloaded from the airplane's multifunction displays revealed that the oil pressure decreased significantly but that engine power was still available before the accident, indicating that, although the flight instructor stated that the engine did not respond to his throttle input, the engine was operating and producing some power at the time of the accident. Although the manufacturer did not specify a minimum or maximum altitude for deployment of the airframe parachute, manufacturer-published information indicated that the demonstrated altitude loss from a straight-and-level deployment was 400 ft. The actual altitude loss during any deployment depended upon the airplane's attitude, altitude, speed, and other environmental factors. The Pilot's Operating Handbook stated that airframe parachute deployment at high speed, low altitude, or in high wind conditions could result in severe injury or death to the aircraft occupants.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.