Cirrus SR22 crash near Bielefeld, Germany

Incident Overview and Flight Details On May 31, 2010, a Cirrus SR22 aircraft crashed near Bielefeld, Germany, resulting in the deaths of the pilot and three passengers. The aircraft was destroyed, and the incident was classified as an accident by the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU). The flight was a charter operation from Katowice, Poland, to Bielefeld, Germany, conducted under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR). The flight plan specified a transition to Visual Flight Rules (VFR) at the DENOL reporting point, with Paderborn-Lippstadt designated as the alternate airport. The aircraft departed Katowice at 07:52 local time and transitioned from IFR to VFR at 10:26 at an altitude of 4,200 feet AMSL, approximately six nautical miles east of Bielefeld. The pilot then selected heading mode on the autopilot to proceed to the DENOL reporting point and contacted Bielefeld for landing on runway 29. At 10:30, the aircraft turned right toward the airfield, which was two nautical miles away. The autopilot managed the descent in VS, ALT SEL, and HDG modes. By 10:30:48, the aircraft had descended to approximately 1,700 feet AMSL, and the autopilot was disengaged. At 10:31:15, the aircraft was approximately 400 meters from the runway 29 threshold at an altitude of about 1,200 feet AMSL. The aircraft then turned left from a heading of 260 degrees, with bank angle increasing to approximately 40 degrees over the next 20 seconds. Indicated airspeed fluctuated between 105 and 115 knots. At 10:31:46, the bank angle decreased to 5 degrees before increasing again. The power lever was set to 25%, and indicated airspeed dropped from 105 knots to approximately 77 knots within 10 seconds. At 10:31:52, the aircraft crossed the extended centerline of runway 29 to the north. At 10:31:57, the power lever was at 100%, bank angle was approximately 55 degrees to the left, and pitch was 15 degrees down. The aircraft then impacted a wooded area with a high pitch angle. The crash site was located approximately 200 meters north of the approach path and one kilometer east of Bielefeld airfield. The aircraft was found leaning nearly vertically against a tree, with the propeller blades detached and the forward section destroyed up to the seats. Fuel was present in the tanks, and the wing leading edges were dented and partially torn. The ballistic recovery system had deployed, but the activation lever was found in the unlocked but not pulled position. No fire occurred, and the investigation found no evidence of technical defects. The pilot, a 26-year-old female, held a commercial pilot license issued by Polish authorities, with approximately 500 total flight hours, including 100 hours under IFR and 60 hours on the SR22 type. She had completed IFR transition training for the Cirrus SR20 and SR22 in June 2009. The aircraft, a single-engine composite low-wing aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 1,542 kg, was built in 2008 and had approximately 800 flight hours. It was registered in Poland and operated by a Polish aviation company. The last maintenance, a 50-hour inspection, was performed on May 18, 2008. The aircraft was equipped with an Avidyne Entegra EXP5000 integrated avionics system, two Garmin GNS 430 GPS units, and a BRS ballistic recovery system. It was certified for IFR operations. According to the weight report from October 10, 2008, the empty weight was 1,113 kg, with occupants weighing 308 kg and baggage weighing 40 kg. The flight plan indicated a loaded block fuel of 92 gallons (348 liters, 260 kg) and trip fuel of 42 gallons (159 liters, 119 kg), resulting in a takeoff weight of 1,721 kg (3,794 lbs). At the time of the accident, the aircraft weight was approximately 1,603 kg (3,534 lbs). Weather conditions at Bielefeld at the time of the accident included a surface wind of 290 degrees at 11 knots, visibility of 7,000 meters, light rain showers, scattered clouds at 1,100 feet, broken clouds at 1,700 feet, a temperature of 10°C, a dew point of 9°C, and a QNH of 1,011 hPa. Paderborn-Lippstadt reported a surface wind of 270 degrees at 8 knots, visibility greater than 10 km, 5/8 clouds at 1,500 feet, 8/8 clouds at 2,200 feet, a temperature of 10°C, a dew point of 7°C, and a QNH of 1,010 hPa at 10:20. The pilot had listened to and noted the ATIS information for Paderborn-Lippstadt. Bielefeld airfield has a runway 1,256 meters long and 20 meters wide, oriented 11/29, with an available landing distance of 1,040 meters for runway 29. The published traffic pattern was south of the airfield at 1,400 feet AMSL, and the airfield reference point elevation was 454 feet AMSL. The BFU had access to radar data, and the PFD, MFD, and a remote data module recorded extensive flight data, including indicated airspeed, altitude, attitude angles, GPS data, autopilot data, and engine data. These components were read out at the NTSB laboratory and provided to the BFU for analysis. All four occupants were autopsied and died from injuries sustained in the impact. No health impairments of the pilot were found. The investigation concluded that the accident was unsurvivable due to the severity of the injuries. The ballistic recovery system had deployed, but the lever position indicated it was activated by the impact rather than by the pilot. Wreck findings and flight data analysis showed no evidence of technical defects. The remaining fuel quantity was not determined. Flight planning documents and manual data indicated the aircraft was 179 kg overweight at takeoff. At the time of the accident, the aircraft weight was 62 kg (3.9%) above the maximum allowable takeoff weight. Weather information and the documented altitude profile suggested the pilot was flying without visual contact with the ground at the time of the IFR to VFR transition. Weather data also indicated that continuous visual contact with the ground may not have been maintained until shortly before reaching the airfield. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at both Bielefeld and Paderborn-Lippstadt at the time of the accident. Instrument approach procedures were available at Paderborn-Lippstadt. The pilot held the required licenses and ratings for the flight, and the BFU considered her flight experience adequate. With 100 hours of IFR experience, the pilot was familiar with instrument flying. Flight planning documents and in-flight recordings showed the pilot was adequately prepared navigationally and monitored weather developments attentively during the flight. At the time of the IFR to VFR transition, the aircraft was at 4,200 feet AMSL, and meteorological data showed the pilot did not have visual contact with the ground. Only in the vicinity of the airfield was the pilot at an altitude of 1,200 feet, below the cloud base. The pilot's seating position in the aircraft and the resulting limited forward-right visibility led the BFU to conclude that the pilot did not see the runway at that time. After the GPS indicated the airfield or runway had been reached, the pilot very likely turned with a high bank angle to avoid moving further from the airfield and to obtain visual contact with the runway. Recorded parameters showed that in the final seconds of the flight, the bank angle increased to up to 60 degrees, and indicated airspeed dropped to 78 knots.