Originally Posted by
Backpacker
But the latter is assuming you essentially hit a concrete wall at stall speed, and all you have to arrest your speed is the crumpling engine compartiment (which probably is not an all that good crumple zone to begin with). If you land in something that has a little more "give", like bushes, crops or something similar, and assume a landing distance of 10m, the acceleration goes down to 45 m/s^2, or 4.5G. Not bad actually.
Not bad -- except for the consequences of having high energy!
At stall speed, are you not on the edge of control? Just a bit slower and you stall and lose lift and quickly lose altitude.
Here's what happened in a fatal accident with an experienced Cirrus pilot who apparently attempted to extend the glide after smelling fumes in the cockpit, diverted, did a power-off glide and stalled:
So, yeah, the best-case outcome can be "not bad actually."
But the worst-case outcome is deadly -- really bad actually!
In a review of all Cirrus parachute deployments, those within design parameters (below 133 knots airspeed and above demonstrated loss of altitude) have been survivable. Zero fatalities. No post impact fires.
Cheers
Rick