Pull early, pull often!

Tale of a scud runner -- Me!

Getting home from the Las Vegas CPPP proved challenging for many participants, including me. The weather turned cold and cloudy on Sunday morning and prevented any flight segments. (Thanks to Kelly Rudy for organizing two tours of the Las Vegas TRACON...

Published 8 Mar 2010 16:56 by Rick Beach

Pilgimage to the Zurich Airport location of Cirrus fatal accident #42

When invited to Germany to speak at the Baden-Baden CPPP, I took a pilgrimage to the site of the fatal Cirrus accident at Zurich Airport. It wasn't a planned trip. But it was an impactful one. Coming almost half-way around the world for this CPPP...

Published 14 Sep 2009 13:03 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history, CAPS, low IMC, aeronautical decision making, judgment, fatal accident #42, Zurich

CPPP Las Vegas ... two steps forward and one step back!

The second CPPP weekend of 2009 took place with a large group of COPA members at North Las Vegas airport. As we did with the Lakeland CPPP, we invited participants to provide feedback through an on-line survey. 80% responded and gave us good marks for...

Published 21 Mar 2009 18:10 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CPPP, KVGT

CPPP Lakeland ... and the survey says!

In the effort to revitalize the CPPP experience, we invited the participants in the Lakeland CPPP to provide feedback through an on-line survey. 47 flight and ground participants were invited and 41 responded, which gives an amazing 87% response rate...

Published 14 Mar 2009 21:08 by Rick Beach

Filed under: Lakeland, CPPP, Florida

Manfred's Lesson by Lee Herring

Lee Herring started the thread Manfred’s Lesson For Me with this reflection on the death of Manfred Stolle in a fatal Cirrus accident . Many COPA members appreciated these thoughts and wanted to preserve the post, so we asked Lee for permission...

Published 4 Feb 2009 8:06 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CAPS, fatal accident #45, CAPS decision criteria

An Epistle on CAPS by Craig Albright

Prompted by the thought-provoking post by Craig Albright on when to pull the chute, let me amplify his analysis in this safety blog. Mantra of "Pull early, pull often!" It bothers some people. "Early" might be misconstrued as "immediately"...

Published 2 Jan 2009 16:51 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CAPS, aeronautical decision making, judgment

CAPS may not be the best option!

Let's be straight. Flying is risky, and nothing can eliminate all of the risk. The CAPS parachute system offers a Cirrus pilot one last safety option. But it may not be the best option. The thread, G3 Turbo Down on Highway in Duluth Today , prompted...

Published 2 Jan 2009 14:22 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CAPS, inhospitable terrain, ditching, fires, aeronautical decision making

2008 ends with improvement in Cirrus fatal accident rate

As 2008 ends, we see some good news. Fewer fatal accidents, more CAPS saves and a decline in the fatal accident rate. The final quarter of 2008 had fewer fatal accidents than same dark months of Oct-Dec in 2007 or 2006 (3 vs 5 or 5 respectively). The...

Published 1 Jan 2009 21:15 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history, CAPS, CAPS activations, fatal accident rate

Trends in Cirrus Fatal Accident Rates

A couple of recent threads have highlighted the recent upsurge in Cirrus fatal accidents. To help visualize what has been happening, let me post updates to the charts that I prepare for the plenary session of CPPP that discusses General Aviation and Cirrus...

Published 27 Nov 2008 15:11 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history

What if I were low time, low energy, low fuel in low IMC?

The Tallahassee fatal accident raises some interesting and challenging scenarios. Let me share some reactions if I were flying a similar scenario. Note, this is not speculating what happened to the accident pilot, but placing myself in similar circumstances...

Published 16 Nov 2008 10:16 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history, low time-in-type, low IMC, low fuel, Tallahassee fatal accident

Cirrus Design Advisory DVD for First Responders

News reports from the recent Cirrus accident in Zurich, Switzerland, highlight the hazards and potential for delay when first responders arrive at a Cirrus accident. In this accident, the CAPS parachute had not deployed while the cockpit was severely...

Published 25 Oct 2008 12:41 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CAPS, rocket, BRS, First responders

Four Seconds over Indianapolis

Four seconds before impact, the passenger in N91MB pulled the CAPS handle and three people survived although the pilot perished. Four seconds earlier and maybe all would have survived! The NTSB investigators reconstructed the flight profile of N91MB and...

Published 21 Oct 2008 7:51 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history, CAPS, Indianapolis fatal accident

Spinning CAPS

On Saturday, the three people walked away from a Cirrus SR22 that had been in a spin close to the ground. CAPS worked. According to press reports and quotes from the pilot, the plane was descending on approach to a nearby airport when turbulence contributed...

Published 13 Oct 2008 10:09 by Rick Beach

Filed under: CAPS, Spins

Introducing NTSB Dockets on the COPA web site

The public release of the NSTB probable cause report on the Indianapolis, IN, fatal accident caught a lot of COPA members by surprise. Intense discussion on the COPA forum in the thread "Autopilot induced stall" explored many aspects of this...

Published 4 Oct 2008 21:18 by Rick Beach

Filed under: accident history, NTSB Dockets, Indianapolis fatal accident

Cirrus accident statistics as of 2008Q3

As of Sept 30, 2008: Fatal accidents 41 fatal accidents 82 fatalities 10 survivors (all seriously injured) Fatal accident rate: 1.42 fatal accidents per 100,000 year-to-date 1.76 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours in past 12 months 1.54 fatal accidents...

Published 2 Oct 2008 11:39 by Rick Beach