Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB WPR19FA154
Cirrus SR22 — Grover, UT
| Date | May 24, 2019 |
| Location | Grover, UT |
| Aircraft | Cirrus SR22 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute-change of cruise level Loss of control in flight |
| Pilot age | 66 |
| Pilot total time | 930 hrs · Building experience |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Conducive to structural icing-Effect on operation - C
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - F
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Conducive to structural icing-Decision related to condition
What happened
The pilot departed on an instrument flight rules cross-country flight and climbed to a cruise altitude of 14,000 ft mean sea level (msl). About 30 minutes into the flight, he requested a climb to 16,000 ft msl. Radar data indicated that over the next several minutes, the airplane climbed to 14,500 ft, then began an increasingly rapid descent as its groundspeed decayed from about 111 knots (kts) to about 64 kts before radar contact was lost. Witnesses reported that they heard the airplane and looked up to see it descending nose down like a corkscrew before it impacted terrain. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
AIRMET Zulu for moderate icing conditions was valid for the area of the accident site at the time of the accident, and an atmospheric sounding supported the likely formation of moderate rime and mixed-type icing in the area. The sounding also indicated the potential for supercooled large droplet icing formation near the top of the cloud layer near 15,000 ft msl. Satellite imagery depicted cumulus and cumulus congestus type clouds with vertical development over the flight track and accident site, and weather radar imagery depicted the airplane entering an area of light-to-moderate intensity echoes just before radar contact was lost. Immediately before and after the accident, two other aircraft operating at similar altitudes reported encountering light clear to mixed icing conditions. The pilot had received preflight weather information containing the relevant forecasts and advisories. In addition, the airplane was equipped with a TKS ice protection system, but it was heavily fragmented during the accident sequence and the investigation was unable to determine if the system was activated or working at the time of the accident.
It is likely that, during the last minutes of the flight, the airplane encountered moderate-to-severe icing conditions, which adversely affected the airplane's handling characteristics and likely resulted in a loss of control.