Cirrus SR22 N213CP

Summary

On 15 March 2009 at about 17:43 local time, a Cirrus SR22 registered N213CP, operated by N2877B LLC, was involved in an accident near Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

15 March 2009 at 17:43

Classification

Accident

Location

Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Montgomery County (GAI)

Coordinates

39.1647, -77.1719

Aircraft

Cirrus SR22

Registration

N213CP

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

N2877B LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Gaithersburg → Kalamazoo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09LA200

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s spatial disorientation after the passenger door opened during flight in instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to properly secure the door latch.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

During the initial climb after takeoff on an instrument-flight-rules flight, as the airplane entered clouds about 700 to 1,000 feet above mean sea level, the passenger door opened about 2 to 3 inches, which allowed rain, cold air, and increased noise to enter the cockpit. The pilot said that he became spatially disoriented and that the airplane subsequently "stalled and started to spin." The pilot activated the Cirrus Airplane Parachute System and the airplane descended toward the ground. The left wing struck a parked vehicle and the airplane came to rest on a road about 1/2 mile west of the airport. The airplane's left wing was fractured and the empennage was separated just forward of the horizontal stabilizer. Examination of the airplane, which included the passenger door locking mechanism, did not reveal any mechanical anomalies. The pilot reported 327 hours of total flight experience, which included 161 hours in the same make and model as the accident airplane, and about 7 and 63 hours of actual and simulated instrument flight experience, respectively. A weather observation taken at the departure airport about the time of the accident included a visibility of 2 miles and overcast clouds at 400 feet.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.