Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
Perhaps severe icing, stall and spin, tangling the chute and damaging comms antennas.
Please everyone: Don’t feed the beast with speculation about sudden incapacitation and ‘evil thought’, especially when it’s a nonsensical explanation just on the cockpit ergonomics of a Cirrus and what actually happens if you point most any ‘light’ aircraft straight at the ground. It’s an awful enough outcome without the AvMeds of the world milking it before the smoke’s dissipated. The pilot’s medical history and domestic circumstances will be revealed, eventually.
I can concur with severe icing, I can also concur with a stall but deploying the 'chute and damaging comms antennas? Sorry, let's stick to the realm of reality. What surprised me was the fact that is was descending at more than 3600fpm whilst still showing a diminishing airspeed - from that alone, we can deduce that the aircraft wasn't "pointed at the ground". Therefore the question why would an aircraft be in a climb then suddenly start descending with no calls from the pilot? Occam's Razor says the most likely reason for him not responding was because he was unable to.
I have known fit and able people suffer a medical emergency and die, totally unexpected. One was mid 40s, training for the Tour de Flanders bicycle course, supremely fit. Went out one evening to ride his bike to his parents, got there, dismounted - collapsed, dead. We pilots aren't immune to such issues, I'm afraid.
Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
How does sudden pilot incapacitation result in an aircraft plummeting to the ground?
It doesn't, unless the aircraft is seriously out of trim OR the pilot slumps across the controls, locking them. Looking at the flight record, this pilot typically climbed at a cruise climb setting of around 120KIAS. His groundspeeds are indicative of fluctuating winds from the front, so to be in a fully established stall at 90 knots ground speed, wings level, he'd need to have had a substantial tail wind, which I don't believe he had.
Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
Yes I am a pilot, cncpc. And, nearly four decades in, I'm getting very tired of the mixture of amateurs, accident ghouls, media trolls and - worst of all - self-interested aircraft manufacturers and maintainers who are so keen to blame the pilot for accidents. And pilot incapacitation feeds straight into Avmed's justification.
You, of course, are just a disinterested observer, with no direct or indirect financial interest in Cirrus or BRS, or in Avmed issues, who's just appeared for purely altruistic reasons to nudge pilot incapacitation as the cause. Aren't you.
Not cncpc, but I did previously own a Cirrus - SR20, not SR22, have around 300 hours in one. My current steed also has a BRS system fitted - specifically for the eventuality that something could happen to me because I am in no doubt that it could happen and I would want any passengers to have a fighting chance.
have no financial interests in any of the above things you mentioned but I still believe the issue was due in part to pilot incapacitation which led to a stall during icing - let's face it, he had climbed to 9500 feet on his way to 10.000 ft - which appeared to be his preferred level - the freezing level was already forecast for between 5000 and 8000feet; the forecast also described broken SC & CU clouds between 5000 and 10000 feet.
He wasn't flying on autopilot, of that we can be sure because of the heading variations and autopilots fitted to the Cirrus require a roll mode to be activated for pitch mode to be used. Therefore the plane had been trimmed for a cruise climb. My belief is he had a medical issue, the aircraft climbed through heavy clouds, picked up ice; because the pilot didn't respond, the aircraft stalled.
Having owned a Cirrus, I know how strong they are, I've not heard of an SR20 / SR22 aircraft coming apart whilst flying below Vne. His issues started whilst at low speed. Sufficient CAPS systems have been deployed, if they could have mis-deployed. tangled with the Comms antennas, we would have heard about it. Let's say his tail broke off, that wouldn't stop his ability to pull the chute, nor to communicate.
As indicated, my current aircraft is also equipped with BRS and if I was at 9500 feet and had a structural failure, I would pull the lever and then contact ATC to let them know where I am heading. If I had a mechanical failure - engine failure, for example, I have enough time from 9500 feet to trouble shoot the issue whilst checking I keep the airspeed below Vpd and above my self imposed deployment hard-deck.
Occam's Razor tells us that to resolve a conundrum, look for the solution of a problem with the minimum number of conditions.
So, to conclude: Aircraft was climbing without an autopilot active. The plane's airspeed started to decrease. The aircraft had already started to drop like a stone before reaching stall speed. The pilot did not respond to any of the issues, didn't make any calls. Didn't pull the chute.
Why? because he couldn't..... Just my 2c worth.....