Comments on: Lessons learned from a fatal Cirrus accident in Zurich http://www.golfhotelwhiskey.com/lessons-learned-from-a-fatal-cirrus-accident-in-zurich/ The free online magazine and airport guide for pilots Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:33:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Dan Collins http://www.golfhotelwhiskey.com/lessons-learned-from-a-fatal-cirrus-accident-in-zurich/comment-page-1/#comment-826 Dan Collins Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:37:12 +0000 http://www.golfhotelwhiskey.com/lessons-learned-from-a-fatal-cirrus-accident-in-zurich/#comment-826 Vincent The POH doesn't specifiy a minimum altitude for CAPS deployment but suggests 2000ft AGL. Depending on airspeed and attitude, CAPS has taken between 400-1000ft altitude loss to deploy and stabilise so you could theoretically deploy lower than 2000ft. I haven't read the report (my German is non-existant!) but it sounds like they didn't consider CAPS, probably thinking they could make the runway. Unless the second alternator and both batteries also failed, they should have had enough power for the relevant instruments to complete the approach. Vincent

The POH doesn’t specifiy a minimum altitude for CAPS deployment but suggests 2000ft AGL. Depending on airspeed and attitude, CAPS has taken between 400-1000ft altitude loss to deploy and stabilise so you could theoretically deploy lower than 2000ft.

I haven’t read the report (my German is non-existant!) but it sounds like they didn’t consider CAPS, probably thinking they could make the runway.

Unless the second alternator and both batteries also failed, they should have had enough power for the relevant instruments to complete the approach.

]]> By: Vincent, from PlasticPilot.net http://www.golfhotelwhiskey.com/lessons-learned-from-a-fatal-cirrus-accident-in-zurich/comment-page-1/#comment-790 Vincent, from PlasticPilot.net Sat, 19 Sep 2009 18:24:39 +0000 http://www.golfhotelwhiskey.com/lessons-learned-from-a-fatal-cirrus-accident-in-zurich/#comment-790 A question from a non-Cirrus pilot: what is the minimal height required to pull the chute and land safely ? While I understand the "avoid giving up altitude" tip, but as far as I remember, this accident started with an alternator failure. The preliminary report ( http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/N467BD.pdf - in German only) mentions that "other problems" occurred during the approach. Is is possible that these supplementary problems occurred at a moment when using the CAPS was no longer possible ? A question from a non-Cirrus pilot: what is the minimal height required to pull the chute and land safely ?

While I understand the “avoid giving up altitude” tip, but as far as I remember, this accident started with an alternator failure. The preliminary report ( http://www.bfu.admin.ch/common/pdf/N467BD.pdf – in German only) mentions that “other problems” occurred during the approach. Is is possible that these supplementary problems occurred at a moment when using the CAPS was no longer possible ?

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