Here's when you use the CAPS:

If you have been flying your Cirrus for any length of time, you've thought about it.  When would you go for the red handle? 

Likely you've got some ideas.  Some concepts.  A philosophy that describes general circumstances under which you'd go for it.  Well, that's a good start... but it just isn't anywhere near enough to save you when time is short.  This is mostly due to how our brains work, and the differences that show themselves when normal life gives way to an emergency.  If you've had something unexpected ever happen to you in an airplane, you know what I mean.  Things take a bit longer.  Obvious options disappear, uncertainty about the true nature of the problem creeps in... and no wonder!  Airplanes are a terribly distracting environment with many different potential sources of issues. 

In this article, I'm going to give you some times and places where you should just go for the red handle instead of troubleshooting and I'll also spell out a good way to approach the use of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System.

What's going on? 

To be able to diagnose the nature of a problem accurately takes time... and sometimes you don't have that much time.  In the history of Cirrus aircraft, we have a number of accidents that started while the aircraft was low and the pilots had precious little time to react.  In a select few of those cases, the pilots did act fast and were able to deploy their CAPS system to great success.  Sadly, the accident reports show that the majority of pilots don't use the CAPS in a timely fashion.  I can back up those accident reports with our observations while teaching in our full motion Cirrus simulator over the last 5 years: unless a pilot has a very specific and well-trained set of tolerances for CAPS use, it's likely that pilot won't go for the chute until it is far too late

Why does that happen?

The causes of pilots failing to pull the chute aren't all that difficult to fathom.  They reasons are quite similar to why people will forget one or two items from a memory-item based emergency checklist, and those reasons have two primary sources: 

• 1. We don't have an established procedure (or don't know it)
• 2. We don't practice the established procedures very often

This article is meant to deal primarily with that second source, but before I go on I should mention that any professional pilot will tell you that they train their emergencies until such time as they don't have to think about it anymore.  That's the key: When you don't have to think about it, it will happen during the real emergency just as consistently as it did during practice.  General aviation pilots aren't required by law to practice these emergencies but for a very brief fraction of an hour once every two years.  This is nowhere near enough. 

Trust me, folks, it doesn't take very much work.  You don't need to go flying with somebody like me every 3 months to make this stuff stick.  You just need to take a little time to review those 10 basic emergencies and ensure that you can recall them from memory.  Practice one of them on every flight and you'll find yourself a master in no time.

So when do I use the CAPS?

During an instructor meeting some time ago, The Flight Academy decided that we were going to adopt some set times and places where we're going to teach people to use the CAPS.  The idea is that when quick action is called for, those who haven't established a procedure will take the time to think about it... and that time will spell disaster.  We see it all the time, both in the real world and in the sim.

First, we established some takeoff zones: an area where the CAPS isn't a terribly viable option, an area where the CAPS should be used quickly in lieu of troubleshooting, and an area where the CAPS should be considered. 

500' AGL and Below: CAPS not a good option, land ahead with minimum maneuvering.

500' AGL to 2,000' AGL: Use CAPS now! 

Do not attempt to troubleshoot or turn back to the airport.

2,000 AGL and above: Consider the CAPS right away, then troubleshoot. 

DO NOT discard CAPS as an option even if it isn't the first one.

Second, we talked about some situations where the CAPS should be used when not necessarily close to the ground:

Any loss of control in flight: Verify control input won't allow precise control, then pull the chute. 

Do not fight with the airplane, speed may increase too rapidly to deploy even 10 seconds after control loss.

Any loss of engine in IMC: Troubleshoot the engine, use residual airspeed to stay level until speed decays to best glide speed. 

Do not descend!  Use the CAPS if engine restart is not possible.

If ditching is inevitable: Glide as close to land as possible, then deploy CAPS at 2,000' AGL. 

Don but do not inflate survival equipment. 

Finally, apply this general process to any emergency situation:  Shall I use the CAPS?   If no, proceed with emergency checklist.  Once checklist is done, consider CAPS again. 

Nearly every Cirrus instructor out there has stories upon stories of clients who elected against the CAPS early in the emergency phase, and then when things got away from them the pilot did not go back to the CAPS as an option.  Those who know a bit about the Morton, WA accident may wonder strongly if this isn't exactly what happened in March of 2010.

Some of my thoughts

I don't doubt that there are differing opinions about altitudes and situations which might mandate a CAPS pull.  This is what my company will teach and we feel very strongly about our stance.  We are a group of instructors with over 15,000 Cirrus hours among us and all feel that the SOP's I posted above are exactly how we ought to teach it.

Consider your own flying.  Do you agree with us?  Do you think you should modify what we do to make it more suitable to your own flying?  Good!  Do it and then go practice in a simulator to see if you'll actually follow through.

There are 40+ people still alive today because somebody on board a Cirrus was wise enough to use the chute before things got farther out of hand.  After 23 deployments, we have seen enough success to know that the CAPS will save lives if pilots train to use it. 

I hope nobody reading this ever needs to fall back on that option, but I know well enough that it's likely one of you WILL need to pull the CAPS one day.  Will you do it?

-John Fiscus

Chief Pilot, The Flight Academy

www.theflightacademy.com