I've been noting the discussion going on about the Cirrus aircraft with interest. I've never flown one, nor worked knowingly for any company with a commercial interest in the aircraft - so I'm both as disinterested and uninformed as it's possible to be whilst remaining a professionally interested aviation professional
Starting with the NTSB database, I can find quite a few reports of fatal accidents. These are:-
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=ATL04FA096&rpt=p
(preliminary report into SR20 N8157J, from limited eyewitness accounts, appears to have spun in without chute operation).
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=CHI04FA255&rpt=p
(preliminary report into SR22 N1223S, insufficient evidence to come to any conclusions at-all)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA05FA023&rpt=p
(preliminary report into SR22 N1159C, again from limited evidence, appears to have been a LOC at low level during low-speed manoeuvring, possibly associated with a flap mechanism failure).
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=IAD05FA032&rpt=p
(Preliminary report into SR22 N889JB, appears to be CFIT in IMC)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?id=SEA05FA038&rpt=p
(Preliminary report into SR22 N6057M, appears to be CFIT in IMC)
On October 12, 2003, at 1105 coordinated SR-22, N100BR crashed in Spain, the report doesn't seem to be available in English.
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...03FA072&rpt=fi
(Full report into SR20 N893MK, appears to have flown into powerlines after deviation from an IMC approach procedure, probably due to pilot being confused by ATC).
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...03FA057&rpt=fa
(Full report into SR22 N9523P, low hour pilot in marginal VMC at low level, CFIT)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...03FA029&rpt=fa
(Full report into SR20 N566T, non-IR pilot, strayed into IMC, CFIT)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...02FA089&rpt=fa
(Full report into SR22 N837CD, stall/spin, failure to recover or operate chute - some suspicion that chute may have malfunctioned)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...02FA162&rpt=fa
(Full report into SR20 N901CD, CFIT in VMC due to rising ground and high density altitude)
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/GenPDF.asp?...01FA145&rpt=fa
(Full report into SR20 N116CD, CFIT during inadvertent IMC, chute apparently not deployed, nor any attempt made)
This is superficial, so I'll make a superficial analysis and by all means anybody argue with me.
(1) The majority of these accidents involve pilots pressing on into conditions for which they at-least were unsuited.
I'm going to be controversial here, but this does look remarkably similar to the trend we saw in the UK a few years ago with privately owned light helicopters often suffering not dissimilar accidents. It was never published as such, but commonly believed that the comfortable environment of the cockpit, and the "I am infallible" attitude of many people who could afford to run a private helicopter (young successful businessmen / media people in large part) tended to lead to considerable over-confidence. Could this be common to the Cirrus?
(2) There are a smaller number of accidents with a definite tendency towards stall / spin.
It was quite controversial during the approval of the Cirrus that the use of the BRS allowed them to avoid showing compliance with the part 23 requirements to demonstrate a spinning assessment. It's interesting that these stall-spin accidents are happening (well, stalls happen to most light aircraft sooner or later), but a proportion of pilots don't seem to be pulling the handle. Why?, no idea - confidence?, lack of trust?, lack of familiarity?
It does beg the question of how good the stall warning and stall characteristics are. Not having flown the type, I can only ask this question not answer it.
But, there are no structural failures, and no losses of control (beyond stall/spin) leading to a fatality. So, it doesn't look like a deeply dangerous aeroplane from the evidence there - just one in which two areas need to be matters for significant pilot caution.
A superficial analysis, by all means shoot it down
G