Cirrus chute saves another one...

[FastEddieB]

In times of stress, fine motor control is one if the first things to go.

Reaching up and pulling the cover off is trivially easy, but even simulator stress can turn your hand into a clumsy claw, pawing at the cover, or, even worse, the pin.

Mike Radomsy's drill was to periodically say BAM! Then touch his head then grab the handle, doing it often enough to make it a reflex. Maybe 100 times to start.

 

[peppy]

My basic point is that it seems silly to pop a chute just because of Sudden Airborne Silence Syndrome. There are a lot of pilots (myself included) who have landed with props stopped, solved the problem and flown home. Planes have landed on roads, streets, highways, golf courses, football fields, etc, and had no problem other than the engine failure that put them on the ground in the first place.

When fixing issues and lowering problems a Parato chart is often useful. In the case of Cirrus way more people have died from not pulling than the cases where CAPS was activated but the plane could have been safely landed without hurting the occupants. I can think of at least one case where I wonder why the pilot didn't land the plane safely but he lived and the fact that he wasn't confident at that moment says he probably did the right thing. I have also been to a funeral and listened to a 9 year old talk about missing her father. He was an excellent pilot. It was a clear day and he almost made the airport. There was a small stand of trees off the end of the runway and he pulled up. He just cleared the trees when the plane stalled and nosed into the ground.

From the latest issue of Cirrus Pilot:

Year Fatal accidents CAPS saves
2011 16 3
2012 10 6
2013 9 7

 

[peppy]

How about power LINES, like the one this guy's plane hit?

If you can land it, LAND it.

Planes have gotten caught in power lines before. I doubt this would be an issue if the occupants wait for rescue.

Cirrus aircraft have come down on a tower, the very steep side of a mountain in the Canadian Rockies, on a truck, and into woods and in all cases everyone was ok. These invented scenarios are sort of like the seat belt argument. I am sure that there has been an accident where someone would have lived had they not been buckled in. However, the odds favor the person wearing a seat belt. People invent CAPS pull scenarios and ignore the person walking on a beach killed by a plane making an emergency landing. They ignore the people killed in cars by propellers of planes making emergency landings. Finally they ignore accidents like the Cirrus pilot, known to be dismissive of CAPS, who had an engine out at altitude but died making an emergency landing because the spot he chose wasn't quite as good as it had looked at altitude. The initial landing was ok but then the nose wheel caught on a mound and the plane flipped.

 

[jonnyjetprop]

Good point, but.......

The Cirrus chute has a minimum altitude, so if you wait too late and need it, it's no longer available.

There are also great pilots who f**ked up the landing and died. So , the chute is 100% and the off field landing is something less than 100%. It's your choice, if you're flying a Cirrus.

As someone who never flew a plane with a chute, I had the same thoughts going in. What changed my mind was the poster who was a management pilot for one of the air taxi operators. He never saw a 100% success rate with professional pilots trying to do a simulated forced landing. Remember, the chute is 100%.

The sad truth is that about 2/3 of the Cirrus fatal accidents would not have been fatal had they pulled the chute. High time pilots were especially reluctant to pull the handle.

Full disclosure: I don't fly a Cirrus. I had joined COPA because I was going to get checked out in a rental and I wanted the chute/no chute instruction and advise. I wanted to know before hand if I was going to pull or not pull. I became convinced that I was going to pull unless there was a really compiling reason not to. The FBO got rid of the Cirrus before I could do the check out. I did sit in one and it was nice. Getting a Cirrus checkout is still on the bucket list.

My basic point is that it seems silly to pop a chute just because of Sudden Airborne Silence Syndrome. There are a lot of pilots (myself included) who have landed with props stopped, solved the problem and flown home. Planes have landed on roads, streets, highways, golf courses, football fields, etc, and had no problem other than the engine failure that put them on the ground in the first place.