SR20 down in SC

A

alanbreck

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AlanB
Haven't seen any posts on this one yet ...

Question for Cirrus pilots ...
From the NTSB prelim:
"The airplane was equipped with a whole airframe parachute system, which was not deployed. The handle inside the cockpit, used to deploy the parachute, was dislodged from the holder assembly about 2-inches and the safety pin was not installed. The rocket motor was not actuated, and the parachute was still in the enclosure. The cover separated during the impact sequence."

Does 2 inch handle displacement suggest they tried to pull, but didn't pull far/hard enough and/or the rocket didn't fire? Or is 2 inch handle displacement plausibly caused by impact forces? (i.e. they never tried to deploy chute)
 
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2 inches may net seem like much but it is actually enough to get the job done.
It requires ~45 pounds of force and activates with a pretty short pull.

Go to the 4:43 mark in Stefan's video.
 
Could be that they ran out of fuel, but the plane landed inverted, and the prelim states "the airplane wreckage was in an inverted position for about 28 hours until it was uprighted during the recovery process". Enough time for fuel to leak.

This bit, on the other hand, is a chin scratcher: "The engine’s crankshaft was rotated manually through 720° via the propeller assembly. Crankshaft and valvetrain continuity could not be confirmed. Anomalous damage was discovered to the camshaft gear. There was partial compression and suction to some of the cylinders and the valve action was anomalous. Examination of the engine interior with a borescope revealed valve strikes to 5 of the 6 pistons, and there was no internal evidence of preignition or detonation".

A windmilling engine shouldn't cause this much internal damage during a sudden stop. Decent chance whatever let go in that engine did so before ground impact.
 
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