Cirrus SR20 N42VR

Summary

On 21 January 2022 at about 00:00 local time, a Cirrus SR20 registered N42VR, operated by Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University, was involved in an accident near Angola, Indiana, United States. 2 people were 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

21 January 2022 at 00:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Angola, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Tri-State Steuben County (ANQ)

Coordinates

41.6387, -85.0850

Aircraft

Cirrus SR20

Registration

N42VR

Category

Airplane

Year built

2006

Engines

1

Operator

Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Battle Creek → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN22LA107

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to ensure adequate terrain clearance during an approach. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor’s delayed remedial action when the airplane descended too low after transitioning to a visual descent to the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The cross-country flight was being conducted by a flight instructor and pilot in conjunction with an instrument rating course from a Part 141 flight school. According to the flight instructor, upon reaching the decision altitude, they transitioned to a visual descent to the runway. During the descent, the airplane impacted trees and the flight instructor assumed control of the airplane and continued to the runway for landing. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage, right wing, and both horizontal stabilizers. The pilot stated that after terminating use of the view limiting device and she transitioned to visual references, she continued to glance back at the glideslope indicator, which showed that they were low on the approach. Shortly thereafter, a tree appeared in front of them, about the same time as they felt the impact. She stated that the precision approach path indicator (PAPI) would not turn on and there was not a current Notice to Air Mission (NOTAM) for the outage. The pilot reported no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.