Plane Fell Over 200 Feet Within Seconds Before Impact

The National Transportation Safety Board has issued its preliminary report on the November 13 downing of a Cirrus SR22 in Tallahassee, FL. As ANN reported, the two persons onboard the aircraft were killed when the plane impacted a residential neighborhood two miles from Tallahassee Regional Airport (TLH) while on an instrument approach to the airport; three persons on the ground were also injured.

The prelim clarifies statements made in the FAA's initial report... and paints a disturbing picture of the final seconds of the accident flight. According to data obtained by investigators, the aircraft plummeted 230 feet in five seconds before impact:

"A hand held GPS (global positioning system) unit that was recovered from the airplane was downloaded at the Safety Board," the prelim states. "When the positions were plotted over the inbound course, they revealed that the airplane initially joined the localizer, before veering off to the right about 5 nautical miles (nm) from the airport. The airplane then flew a serpentine pattern for the next 2 miles, finally turning south before the GPS stopped recording.

"The last recorded position was almost directly above the accident site, and indicated that the airplane was 30 feet above the ground. The previous recorded position, 5 seconds earlier, was about .07 miles to the north, and indicated the airplane was 260 feet above the ground."

As referenced in the statement above, the accident aircraft repeatedly deviated from the localizer as it approached TLH. The NTSB notes a 6-knot wind blowing from the south at TLH, which may have contributed to the plane veering right-of-course:

"A review of voice transmissions revealed that as he was approaching Tallahassee, the pilot advised the controller that he had the current weather, and requested the ILS (instrument landing system) runway 27 approach. The approach controller provided vectors for the approach, cleared the pilot for the approach, and advised him to switch to the Tallahassee Tower radio frequency, which the pilot acknowledged...

"After the pilot contacted Tallahassee Tower, the controller cleared him to land, and reported the winds from 170 degrees at 6 knots. About 1 minute, 20 seconds later, the controller advised the pilot that he was right of course, and to fly heading 240 to rejoin the localizer. The pilot did not initially respond, and the controller repeated the instruction, after which, the pilot acknowledged.

"About 20 seconds later, the controller twice told the pilot to turn left to heading 240, once also stating that the pilot was heading north-westbound, which the pilot acknowledged. About 1 minute after that, the controller again directed the pilot to turn left to 240, and advised him that he was still right of course. The pilot did not initially respond, but when the controller repeated the airplane's call sign, the pilot stated, "seven golf mike's gotta go..."

"There were no further transmissions from the pilot."

 A witness told the Board she saw the SR22 was flying straight overhead, before it "'came down flipping in circles,' including two 360-degree turns, and hit the cars, one of which then ran over her."

The 64-year-old pilot held a private certificate with single-engine land and instrument ratings, and had purchased the SR22 in early October. In 721 hours of total time, he held 17 hours in make and model. The 2002 Cirrus was equipped with steam-gauge primary instruments, and a multi-function display configured to record flight data; however, the MFD did not record the last 63 seconds of the accident flight.

Investigators noted the aircraft's CAPS ballistic parachute system was safed at the time of impact, with the maintenance safety pin still inserted through the handle retainer and the accompanying "Remove Before Flight" streamer attached.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov