Flight History
On July 5, 2010, about 1728 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, registration N764CD, was destroyed following an in-flight loss of control at Fairfield, New Jersey. The airplane was operated by a private pilot under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight. The pilot and two passengers were killed. The flight originated at Plattsburg, New York (PBG) and was destined for Caldwell, New Jersey (CDW). Visual meteorological conditions prevailed; no flight plan was filed.
Radar and voice communications with Caldwell Air Traffic Control Tower indicated the pilot reported 15 miles northeast of the airport. The tower instructed the pilot to report a left downwind for runway 4. About five minutes later, the pilot reported entering a left downwind for runway 4. The last radar return showed the airplane on an approximate one-mile final at 1,000 feet mean sea level (about 800 feet above ground level). At 1727:52, the pilot reported "going around," which was the last radio transmission received.
Witness Accounts
A student pilot and his instructor were on taxiway Papa, holding for takeoff on runway 4. The student observed a Cirrus on final, noting it was "a bit high and a bit fast." The instructor commented that the airplane was not stabilized. The student reported the airplane touched down midway down the runway or toward the end, at least abeam the tower. The airplane appeared to be "rocking or bouncing," then initiated an abrupt climb at a high nose-up attitude. It climbed extremely fast at the end of the runway. At about 200 feet above the runway, the nose attitude dropped slightly, and the airplane seemed to hang in the air for several seconds. The airplane then performed a "stall spin dive to the right or left" and descended almost straight down, disappearing behind the tree line. A smoke plume rose from above the trees.
A second witness, inside Air Bound Aviation, observed the airplane land about 3,000 feet down the runway. The airplane landed hard, bounced, then went around. He saw the airplane over the building and trees past the end of runway 4, then it began a turn, stalled, and descended straight down behind the trees.
A third witness, also inside Air Bound Aviation, saw the airplane land hard about three-quarters of the way down runway 4. He observed the airplane "power up," pass over the buildings past the end of runway 4, then the nose came straight up and it started a left turn, descending straight down until impact.
A fourth witness, on the ramp at CDW while his airplane was refueled, observed a Cirrus "porpoising" down runway 4 at 40 to 50 knots. He described two full porpoise arcs before the aircraft disappeared from sight. He then saw the airplane past the departure end of the runway, climbing, entering a steep bank to the left with the nose about 90 degrees left of the runway centerline. He watched as the nose fell below the horizon and the airplane headed nose-first toward the ground, disappearing below the horizon. A fireball and black smoke then appeared from the accident site.
Four building-mounted security cameras recorded portions of the accident sequence. The examined videos revealed an in-flight loss of aircraft control, a steep vertical descent, and an impact with terrain at a near-vertical nose-low attitude.
Pilot Information
The pilot, who owned the airplane, held a private pilot certificate with airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane ratings. Her pilot logbook indicated she had logged about 885 hours of flight time, including about 287 hours in the SR22. She completed an instrument proficiency check on June 27, 2010.
Aircraft Information
The accident airplane was a Cirrus SR22, serial number 1690, manufactured in 2005. It was a four-place airplane with a fixed tricycle landing gear, powered by a Continental IO-550-N 310-horsepower engine. The last annual inspection was conducted on December 4, 2009, at a recorded Hobbs time of 601 hours. The airplane was topped off at PBG with 26 gallons of Avgas on June 30, 2010.
The Cirrus SR22 Pilot's Operating Handbook specifies go-around (balked landing) procedures: disengage autopilot, apply full power, reduce flap setting to 50%, climb at 75-80 KIAS with 50% flaps, then after clearing obstacles, retract flaps and accelerate to normal flaps-up climb speed.
Weather Conditions
The 1737 weather observation for CDW included clear sky, surface winds from 320 degrees at 7 knots, 10 statute miles visibility, temperature 36 degrees Celsius, dew point 15 degrees Celsius, and an altimeter setting of 29.94 inches of mercury.
Wreckage Examination
The wreckage was found adjacent to a business in Fairfield, New Jersey, about 0.5 miles north of CDW. A section of the left wing leading edge remained on the roof of a one-story building, with a linear impact mark matching the leading edge on the roof cap. The initial point of ground impact was on an asphalt driveway, where the airplane struck at about an 80-degree nose-down attitude. All flight control surfaces, engine, propeller, and Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) components were located at the accident site, with no evidence of airborne CAPS deployment.
The propeller hub and separated propeller were embedded about 12 inches into the asphalt. The crankshaft propeller flange separated from the engine, displaying 45-degree shear lips. All three propeller blades exhibited rotational scoring, blade twisting, bending/curling near the tips, and missing tip material.
The debris field extended 40 to 50 feet from the initial impact point. The main wreckage came to rest upright on a heading of about 095 degrees, including the engine, fuselage, wings, ailerons, flaps, and empennage. The engine remained attached to the mount. Wings, fuselage, and cockpit were heavily damaged by post-crash fire.
Control continuity was confirmed for ailerons, rudder, and elevator to the cockpit controls. The flap actuator shaft was extended about 1 inch, indicating 100% flap extension. The roll trim motor was in the full left trim position; the pitch trim motor was in the full nose-down trim position.
The engine was upright with thermal and impact damage. It could not be turned manually; internal continuity was not confirmed. The magnetos, standby alternator, starter motor, and induction filter assembly were separated. Top spark plugs appeared normal in color and wear.
Examination of runway 4 at CDW revealed two sets of propeller strike marks: one set at about 2,300 feet from the approach end, and another at about 2,512 feet, adjacent to taxiway Bravo. Several fiberglass pieces from a nose wheel pant were scattered near the intersection of taxiway Bravo and runway 4. Runway 4 is 4,553 feet long.
Medical and Pathological Information
A postmortem examination of the pilot at the State of New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner Office noted the cause of death as blunt impact injuries. Forensic toxicology performed by the FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory was negative for ethanol, cyanide, carbon monoxide, and drugs.