MidAir at Centennial Airport Cirrus and Metroliner

skyking3286

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Sep 29, 2012
Messages
419
Display Name

Display name:
skyking3286
photo.php
KeyLime and SR-22 just happened. More details coming, all survived, Cirrus under chute

https://www.thedenverchannel.com/ne...-no-reported-injuries-officials-say?_amp=true

Thought the rudder was missing, but its grey and hard to see in the first views they had of the plane.
 
Last edited:
anyone else think tantulum was running around his room, high fiving himself, saying "that's right, CIRRUS for the win, p!ss off chute haters!" until he figured out that the plane without a chute also made a successful landing? :happydance:
 
crap! I'm just a few miles from Cherry Creek and a half mile from KAPA right now ... I would have thought I had heard something but didn't.
 
Last edited:
All I see are red x’s on iPad. You guys looking at these on computers?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Makes think of the Hawaii flight where they still flew it with a huge pieces missing. Incredible to see it sitting on the ramp like it just landed and taxied like a regular flight. Is that a King Air?
 
KeyLime frequently repositions from KAPA to KDEN. Cherry Creek park is directly north of KAPA. Take a look at this pic.The red circle is CC Park. The CC reservoir is a reporting point for approach to 17L/R. I live a couple blocks N of the circle...right under 17 approach. Unfortunately, I'm in the basement working (online for an all-day telecon) so I didn't hear anything.

More details and pictures of the Metroliner:
https://avherald.com/h?article=4e74b6e5
 

Attachments

  • KAPA-KDEN.png
    KAPA-KDEN.png
    1.7 MB · Views: 82
Last edited:
anyone else think tantulum was running around his room, high fiving himself, saying "that's right, CIRRUS for the win, p!ss off chute haters!" until he figured out that the plane without a chute also made a successful landing? :happydance:

C’mon now, give him a chance to retaliate. Ya gotta @ these things. @Tantalum , hit him with both barrels, empty the magazine:devil:
 
This article has some details. Parallel approaches to 17L (Metro) and 17R (Cirrus). Metro pilot declared an emergency with a failed right engine, then reported they saw the Cirrus descending under the parachute.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4e74b6e5
 
KeyLime frequently repositions from KAPA to KDEN. Cherry Creek park is directly north of KAPA. Take a look at this pic.The red circle is CC Park. The CC reservoir is a reporting point for approach to 17L/R. I live a couple blocks N of the circle...right under 17 approach. Unfortunately, I'm in the basement working (online for an all-day telecon) so I didn't hear anything.

In basement, online? You are setting yourself up with that:rofl:
 
In basement, online? You are setting yourself up with that:rofl:
Basement is my personal, private scif. All the computers and stuff are down here. Absolutely nothing upstairs to indicate there's a geek in the house.
 
I wonder if it’s on LiveATC

Supposedly happened around 10:20 MT.

The Metroliner photo floating around had a caption that the person who took it heard the KL declare with right engine out and then saw the Cirrus descending under the chute.
 
Supposedly happened around 10:20 MT.

The Metroliner photo floating around had a caption that the person who took it heard the KL declare with right engine out and then saw the Cirrus descending under the chute.
FlightAware has the Metroliner landing at 10:25 MDT.
 
Key Lime 970 checks in at 22:20, cleared to land 17L at 23:20, and declares an emergency at 23:50. Parachute of Cirrus is mentioned shortly after 24:00. Key Lime 970 calmly mentions the right engine seemed to have failed, but I wonder if it just felt like that due to the collision. A Cirrus smashing into your aft fuselage from the right side might feel like a loss of thrust on the right engine.
 
Key Lime 970 checks in at 22:20, cleared to land 17L at 23:20, and declares an emergency at 23:50. Parachute of Cirrus is mentioned shortly after 24:00. Key Lime 970 calmly mentions the right engine seemed to have failed, but I wonder if it just felt like that due to the collision. A Cirrus smashing into your aft fuselage from the right side might feel like a loss of thrust on the right engine.

I haven't looked myself, but what I am seeing elsewhere is the controller for Runway 17R is a different frequency, but on that recording you can hear the controller called the Cirrus's overshoot of their turn just prior to the collision. Even looking at the Flightaware track it seems they were way too wide on their base to final turn.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?ica...6&lon=-104.859&zoom=12.2&showTrace=2021-05-12

This historical track shows both aircraft. Looks pretty obvious what happened.
 
...Is that a King Air?

Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner.

This article has some details. Parallel approaches to 17L (Metro) and 17R (Cirrus). Metro pilot declared an emergency with a failed right engine, then reported they saw the Cirrus descending under the parachute.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4e74b6e5

Amazing the Metroliner didn't break up in flight after that hit.
If reports are correct it appears the Cirrus was off course for the assigned runway. They are quite close together, the threshold of 17R is inset from 17L, which is the main runway, so the Cirrus pilot, if not familiar with KAPA, may have mistaken 17R to be a taxiway?

When the Metroliner took the hit it would have yawed violently to the right, which might have led the pilot to initially think he had a RH engine failure. Until he saw the Cirrus chute and figured out what happened.
 
I haven't looked myself, but what I am seeing elsewhere is the controller for Runway 17R is a different frequency, but on that recording you can hear the controller called the Cirrus's overshoot of their turn just prior to the collision. Even looking at the Flightaware track it seems they were way too wide on their base to final turn.

https://globe.adsbexchange.com/?ica...6&lon=-104.859&zoom=12.2&showTrace=2021-05-12

This historical track shows both aircraft. Looks pretty obvious what happened.
The interactive feature makes it even more obvious. Click along their tracks and it shows the position of each plane at that time.

Good point on the multiple frequencies. 17R was busy, I heard them correct a guy to tell him he was #5 to land. On the "Secondary #1" (123.7) feed, I hear Cirrus N416DJ being given traffic at 22:15. They say to report the west shore of Cherry Creek. He had traffic to follow on base. The Metroliner was called out at the north shore at 22:50 and he said "traffic in sight" but that may have been only a reference to the traffic he was supposed to follow. At 23:50, Tower tells the Cirrus he was overshooting final and then suddenly asking "do you require assistance?" Emergency vehicles are mentioned at 24:05. The parachute is mentioned by another plane at 24:20 and Tower asks for an accurate position.
 
Cirrus owner is in Parker, not far from KAPA. History has the Cirrus frequently flying in & out of KAPA, hence not only are they familiar, the odds are that it's based there. 17L is 10K, 17R is 7.5K and the approach end is about 1500 ft further south than the approach end of 17L. Taxi ways between 17L and 17R as well as another one on the left of 17L
 
That Cirrus left wing looks really intact for an overshoot. Wonder where the strike actually landed then?

Some lucky peeps in that mixup. Gonna be an interesting insurance claim vs the Cirrus owner also. :eek:
 
That's right at the seats I used to ride in on the way to North Dakota in that Key Lime plane. Sure glad it held together!!!
 
Back
Top