Accident Sequence
On November 7, 2019, about 1100 Pacific standard time, a Cirrus SR22 airplane, registration N220MT, was destroyed when it crashed near Upland, California. The pilot was fatally injured. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a personal flight.
A witness reported seeing the accident airplane enter the traffic pattern behind another aircraft. The accident airplane was on base to final, flying low and slow, as if waiting for the other airplane. The left wing dropped, and the airplane descended to the ground.
Radar data showed the airplane approaching the airport from the southwest. At about 1 nautical mile from the airport, it entered a left downwind for runway 24 at approximately 93 knots. Its speed decreased slowly while in the pattern. When the first airplane landed, the accident airplane appeared to be in a left turn toward base at about 69 knots. Shortly thereafter, it abruptly descended from 1,800 to 1,600 feet at an average rate of 3,030 feet per minute, and radar data was lost.
Wreckage and Impact
The airplane impacted a house in a residential area about half a mile from the threshold of runway 24. Most of the airframe came to rest in the westernmost rooms of the house. A large portion of the outboard left wing rested on an adjacent brick wall. A postimpact fire ensued, consuming most of the airframe. The engine came to rest upright and nose-low, with the firewall and instrument panel attached and exhibiting extensive thermal damage.
All three propeller blades remained attached at the hub but were separated at the blade root. Two blades were completely separated with only balance tubes present; one balance tube was bent aft at about a 45° angle, the other slightly bent. About one-third of the blade root remained on the third propeller, with heavy thermal damage and most of the outboard blade missing.
The airframe parachute risers and suspension lines were draped over a nearby palm tree, and the parachute canopy came to rest in a neighboring yard. The slider was at the base of the parachute, and the beeswax coating on the vent lines at the apex remained stuck together, consistent with a packed state.
Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Flight control continuity was established among remaining cables. The engine produced thumb compression, spark from the right magneto, and normal operating signatures on spark plugs and borescope inspection. The left magneto had a melted timing gear but otherwise appeared normal.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department Coroner Division listed the cause of death as thermal injuries with smoke inhalation. Toxicological testing by NMS Labs detected elevated carboxyhemoglobin of 34% in the pilot's heart blood (normal nonsmoker level less than 1-3%; heavy smokers may have up to 10-15%). Caffeine was also detected in heart blood. The FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory measured carboxyhemoglobin at 21% in heart blood and detected cyanide at 2.13 µg/mL.