Images Show Aircraft With CAPS Deployed

A Cirrus SR22 went down Saturday night in Upshur County, WV. Another victim of some manner of engine interruption (something that seems to be happening with questionable frequency), the pilot deployed the CAPS system on the airplane and was uninjured.

The accident occurred at about 1730 EST, according to television station WVNS. The pilot, identified as James Meadows of Hendersonville TN, was flying the aircraft to Pennsylvania when he said he heard a "bang" and the engine failed.

Meadows deployed the CAPS parachute, and the plane struck the top of a truck being driven by 42-year-old Billy King before coming to rest on Brushy Fork Road near two car dealerships. King was also uninjured, if startled by having a plane hit his truck. King said all he heard "was a boom, and I thought it was one of those poles giving away because of the cold." Then, he said, he saw the airplane.

The Cirrus was one of a flight of two airplanes, the other being an unspecified make of Grumman that was preparing to land at Upshur County Regional Airport to refuel.

According to FAA records, Meadows is the registered owner of the Cirrus.

(SR22 pictured in file photo. Not accident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov