N764CDCirrus Design SR22 · 2005

On July 5, 2010, about 1728 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, N764CD, was destroyed following an in-flight loss of control at Fairfield, New Jersey. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. The certificated private pilot and two passengers were killed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Plattsburg, New York (PBG) and was destined for Caldwell, New Jersey (CDW).

According to recorded radar and voice communications with Caldwell ATC Tower, the pilot reported 15 miles northeast of the airport. Caldwell tower instructed the pilot to report a left downwind for runway 4. About 5 minutes later, the pilot reported entering a left downwind for runway 4. The last radar return showed the airplane on an approximate one mile final at 1,000 feet mean sea level, or about 800 feet above ground level. At 1727:52, the pilot reported "going around," which was the last radio transmission received from the pilot.

A student pilot was preparing to take off on runway 4 at CDW and reported the following sequence of events to the NTSB investigator-in-charge. He and his instructor were on taxiway Papa, holding number one for takeoff. He angled the airplane such that he could see traffic on final for runway 4. He observed a Cirrus airplane on final approach and noted that the airplane was "a bit high and a bit fast." His instructor commented to him that the airplane was not stabilized and "this would likely be a close call." The student reported that the airplane touched down midway down the runway or towards the end; it was at least abeam the tower when it touched down. The airplane appeared to be "rocking or bouncing," at which time it initiated an abrupt climb at a relatively high nose up attitude. The airplane climbed extremely fast at the end of the runway. At about 200 feet above the runway, the airplane did not level off, but the nose attitude dropped slightly. The airplane seemed to hang in the air for several seconds. He felt that there was something clearly wrong and he stated to his instructor that he thought the airplane was going to crash. The airplane did a "stall spin dive to the right or left" and descended almost straight down, then disappeared behind the tree line. He then observed a smoke plume rise from above the tree line.

A second witness was inside Air Bound Aviation, a fixed base operator located on the airport at CDW, at the time of the accident. He observed the airplane land about 3,000 feet down the runway. He stated that the airplane landed hard, then bounced. The airplane then went around, and he saw the airplane over the building and trees past the end of runway 4. The airplane then began a turn, stalled, and descended straight down behind the trees.

A third witness, also inside Air Bound Aviation, observed the airplane land hard, about three-quarters of the way down runway 4. He observed the airplane "power up" and it passed over the buildings past the end of runway 4. The nose of the airplane then came straight up and the airplane started a turn to the left; it then descended straight down until it crashed.

A fourth witness was on the ramp at CDW while his airplane was being refueled after a flight. He observed a Cirrus airplane "porpoising" down runway 4 at 40 to 50 knots. He stated that the airplane was "porpoising hard; I saw two full porpoise arcs before the aircraft disappeared out of sight..." He turned around and saw the airplane again, past the departure end of the runway and climbing. The airplane entered a steep bank to the left, with the nose pointing about 90 degrees left of the runway centerline. He watched as the nose fell below the horizon and the airplane headed toward the ground, nose first. He saw the airplane disappear below the horizon and then observed a fireball and black smoke coming from the accident site.

Portions of the accident sequence were recorded by four building-mounted security cameras; three on the airport property and one at a manufacturing business north of the airport. The examined videos revealed an in-flight loss of aircraft control, a steep vertical descent, and an impact with terrain at a near-vertical nose-low attitude.

The pilot, who also owned the airplane, held a private pilot certificate with airplane single engine land and instrument airplane ratings. Examination of her pilot logbook revealed that she had logged about 885 hours of flight time, including about 287 hours in the SR22. Her logbook also indicated that she completed an instrument proficiency check on June 27, 2010.

The accident airplane was a Cirrus SR22, a four-place airplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear, serial number 1690, manufactured in 2005. A Continental IO-550-N, 310-horsepower horizontally opposed six-cylinder engine powered the airplane. Review of the airplane logbooks revealed the last annual inspection was conducted on December 4, 2009, at a recorded Hobbs time of 601 hours. The airplane was topped off at PBG with 26 gallons of Avgas on June 30, 2010, at 1841.

The Cirrus SR22 Pilot's Operating Handbook contains the following procedures to be followed in the event of a go around (balked landing): "In a balked landing (go around) climb, disengage autopilot, apply full power, then reduce the flap setting to 50%. If obstacles must be cleared during the go around, climb at 75-80 KIAS with 50% flaps. After clearing any obstacles, retract the flaps and accelerate to the normal flaps up climb speed."

The 1737 weather observation for CDW included sky clear, surface winds from 320 degrees at 7 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, temperature 36 degrees Celsius, dew point 15 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 29.94 inches of mercury.

The wreckage was found adjacent to a business located in Fairfield, New Jersey. The accident site was about 0.5 miles north of CDW. A section of the left wing leading edge remained on the roof of the one-story building, and a linear impact mark matching the size and shape of the leading edge section was found on the sheet metal roof cap. An examination of the initial point of ground impact revealed that the airplane struck the asphalt driveway in about an 80-degree nose-down attitude. All flight control surfaces, engine, propeller, and Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) components were located at the accident site. No evidence of airborne CAPS deployment was observed.

The initial point of ground impact included the separated propeller and propeller hub, which was embedded about 12 inches into the asphalt. The crankshaft propeller flange separated from the engine and remained attached to the propeller assembly. The separated surfaces exhibited 45-degree shear lips. All three propeller blades exhibited rotational scoring, blade twisting, and bending/curling near the blade tips. All three blades were missing material from their tips.

The wreckage debris field extended to the north and west, approximately 40 to 50 feet from the initial point of impact. The main wreckage came to rest upright, on a heading of about 095 degrees. The main wreckage included the engine, fuselage, wing, ailerons, flaps and the empennage. The engine remained attached to the engine mount. The wings, fuselage, and cockpit were heavily damaged by post-crash fire.

Control continuity was confirmed from the ailerons, rudder, and elevator to the cockpit controls. The flap actuator shaft was extended about 1 inch, which was indicative of 100 percent flap extension. The roll trim motor was found in the full left trim position and the pitch trim motor was found in the full nose down trim position.

The engine was found in an upright position and exhibited thermal and impact damage. Due to impact damage, the engine could not be turned through manually and internal continuity was not confirmed. The magnetos, standby alternator, starter motor, and induction filter assembly were separated from the engine. The top spark plugs were removed by investigators; the electrodes were normal in color and wear when compared to a Champion AV-27 inspection chart.

An examination of runway 4 at CDW revealed two sets of strike marks indicative of a propeller contact with the runway. A set of six marks was located approximately 2,300 feet from the approach end of runway 4. A second set of six marks was located adjacent to taxiway Bravo, approximately 2,512 feet from the approach end of runway 4. Several fiberglass pieces identified as fragments of a nose wheel pant were scattered around the area at the intersection of taxiway Bravo and runway 4. Runway 4 was 4,553 feet in length.

A postmortem examination of the pilot was performed at the State of New Jersey, Northern Regional Medical Examiner Office. The autopsy report noted the case of death as blunt impact injuries.

Forensic toxicology was performed on specimens of the pilot by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory (CAMI), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The CAMI toxicology report was negative for ethanol, cyanide, and carbon monoxide, and drugs.