Yes, I read the entire article. The pilot announced an emergency landing to an runway that did not exist. Then stalled and spun in. No ASI in most GA planes, including an SR22 should not be that much of an emergency. Just fly the freaking plane. Do a lap in the pattern and land. Declare if the pattern is busy and you want to get down. Helmet fire was the cause, pitot cover caused the helmet fire, didn't cause the stall spin.
Yes the pitot cover contributed to it and you should make sure to take it off. What if a bug impales itself in the port on take off? Part of slow flight training is recognizing an incipient stall.
No. Losing an instrument is NOT the same as losing an engine. There isn't a damn instrument failure in the plane that will cause a crash. The only thing that contributed to that accident is "Cirrus Pilot."
Like the one on the radio I heard that wanted to declare an emergency in VFR because his nav screen was acting up. Dude, you're in Michigan near the straights. If you can't make it to Harbor Springs by pilotage, you shouldn't be in the air.
I never take off full rich - even at sea level. I always lean for best power. Unless DA is minus 3000, I'm always leaned somewhat. Full engine monitor so, I'm not cooking anything.
Trim set for landing is unlikely to cause a crash - In many planes it's very close to the takeoff setting, in others you're never going to break ground with that trim setting.
VERY aircraft dependent. In my Mooney, I typically land with full nose up trim. That would make for a VERY EXCITING take off.
I do agree that GA checklists could be better. I have MiraCheck (now Goose Copilot). When I input my checklists, I reordered things to a more logical order for me.
I use GUMPS as a roll out on final last confirmation of important things, and as I roll out for take off, I sweep the power levers, trim and flap settings.
Flew a Citabria for most of my student hours. One day, I was on final. The airspeed started to decrease. I added forward pressure. The airspeed STILL went down. I pushed the nose down as much as I dared, and watched the needle continue to drop. Thought I was going to die.
The needle dropped to zero. Then went past as I shot over the threshold, ~50 feet up.
Whut the heck?
Powered up and did a careful go-around. Airspeed seemed to work fine on downwind. Established what felt like a normal glide on the next approach. Airspeed did the same thing. Kept a generous speed cushion, just out of caution.
A couple more touch-and-goes (I was enamored by this strange behavior). Taxied back to the FBO, to be chewed out by one of the instructors. "You were flying final way too fast!"
Ah, well.
They did find a bug clogging the pitot tube. Wonder if it happened at altitude, so the airspeed indicator was working like an altimeter as I descended.
