Airframe Parachute System Saves Pilot in Cirrus

All too often, I read articles on Cirrus aircraft with their electronics and advanced designs and I wished I could fly one.  Even dared to dream about owning a Cirrus.  A really fine aircraft and higher performance than my abilities would safely enjoy.  I'd get the hang of it after a proper amount of instruction.  

Then I remembered the articles detailing the destruction of  a Cirrus aircraft and it's crew.  Why are the crew dying in a plane that has an emergency parachute.  The stories I remember now, do not have any instances of the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS™) being deployed.  Is it because no pilot wants to fire the chute and face scrutiny afterwards?  Does it cause alot of damage to the aircraft after it has been fired?  I think one needs a minimum of 1,000 feet agl before one can be counted on to slow the aircraft for a vertical landing, safely.

Here is an article of a succesful chute deployment and survival of the pilot flying the Cirrus. Yup, happy ending, except for the part about the aircraft may be beyond salvage--but the pilot was the one that said it.....lakotahope


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 TheDenverChannel.com Channel 7 News

Written By Megan Jurgemeyer, Content Producer

POSTED: 7:38 am MST January 30, 2011

UPDATED: 4:52 pm MST January 30, 2011

KIOWA, Colo. -- A small plane pilot walked away unhurt from a crash near Kiowa early Sunday after he deployed the aircraft's parachute system, authorities said.

The pilot took off from Centennial Airport, but had to deploy the Cirrus aircraft’s parachute system when he ran into trouble, said Cory Stark, director of Elbert County Emergency Management.Floating under the parachute, the plane landed on its wheels in a creek bed shortly after 6 a.m. Sunday, said Elbert County Emergency Management officials.

Residents on County Road 53 heard the crash and dialed 911 and a air traffic controller at Centennial Airport also reported the incident.Then pilot called 911 on his cell phone and was able to help guide emergency crews to his location using his global positioning system, Stark said.

Kiowa and Rattlesnake fire crews sounded fire truck sirens to help the pilot, who was talking to dispatchers, direct them to to him.Crews found the pilot at about 6:45 Sunday morning. He was uninjured, but he told officials he thought the plane was a total loss.

The pilot refused medical attention and was given a ride home by Elbert County sheriff’s deputies.According to the Cirrus website, all of the manufacturer’s aircraft are outfitted with CAPS, or the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, which helps to lower the aircraft to the ground after it is deployed.