Cirrus SR22 N814SN

Summary

On 20 May 2006 at about 15:00 local time, a Cirrus SR22 registered N814SN was involved in an accident near Verdigre, Nebraska, United States. 4 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 May 2006 at 15:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Verdigre, Nebraska, United States

Nearest airport

Private Airstrip (PVT)

Coordinates

42.6731, -98.2269

Aircraft

Cirrus SR22

Registration

N814SN

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Crete → Verdigre

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI06CA133

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's decision to land on a wet grass runway that had insufficient length available for landing roll. An additional cause was the pilot's failure to properly retract the flaps during the aborted landing, resulting in diminished climb performance and the collision with the trees. Contributing factors to the accident were that the full length of the runway was not available for landing, the wet grass runway condition, and the trees which the airplane impacted during the aborted landing.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane impacted trees during an aborted landing attempt. The pilot reported that his private grass airstrip was 2,700 feet long and 75 feet wide. The pilot stated that the runway was wet due to a rain shower earlier that morning. The pilot reported that about one-half of the runway had been seeded recently and as a result he attempted to land on the remaining portion of runway. The pilot stated that upon landing the airplane began to slide on the wet runway when he applied brakes. The pilot reported that he initiated an aborted landing, but the airplane impacted two trees after becoming airborne. The trees were positioned about 50 feet past the departure threshold. The landing roll distance for a dry, level, paved runway, was 1,205 feet, according to the Cirrus SR22 Pilot Operating Handbook (POH). The POH indicated that the calculated landing distance should be increased by 40% for operations on grass runways, which resulted in a landing distance of 1,687 feet. The POH did not include an adjustment factor for operations on wet runways. According to a post-accident examination of the runway, the airplane touched down with about 1,265 feet of runway remaining. According to the POH, the flaps should be retracted to 50% during an aborted landing to maximize climb performance. The flaps were found fully extended at the accident site.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.