# Accident 20040919024319A: Cirrus SR22, Linden, CA, September 19, 2004

- Type: FAA accident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 19, 2004, 16:20 local time
- Place: Linden, CA
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.9958° N, 121.0614° W: From the FAA
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.9958&lon=-121.0614&mi=10
- Aircraft: N931CD, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N931CD) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Cirrus Design SR22 (registry code 2130001, https://openairdocs.org/model/cirrus-design-sr22) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: CIRRUS SR22
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,560 total, 500 in this make and model, 30 in the last 90 days
- NTSB investigation: [NTSB LAX04LA324](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX04LA324) (OpenAirDocs)
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20040919024319A

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

(-23) PILOT REPORTED THAT HE HAD ATTEMPTED TO AVOID ONCOMING WEATHER BY CLIMBING TO 16,500 FEET USING THE AUTOPILOT VERTICAL SPEED CONTROL. PILOT COMMENTED THAT HE HAD USED THE AUTOPILOT TO MAINTAIN 100 KNOTS ON THE AIRSPEED. DURING THE AIRCRAFT CLIMB PILOT AND PASSENGER REPORTED HEARING A WHIRLING SOUND, AND OBSERVED THE AIRCRAFT NOSE PITCH UP 20 DEGREES. PILOT COMMENTED THAT HE HAD DISENGAGED THE AUTOPILOT AND THE AIRCRAFT ABRUPTLY PITCHED DOWN. PILOT REPORTED THAT THE AIRCRAFT FELT LIKE IT HAD STALLED AND WAS ENTERING A SPIN. HE DID NOT RECALL INSTRUMENT INDICATIONS, STALL WARNING, ETC. PILOT COMMENTED THAT HE PULLED POWER BACK APPLIED OPPOSITE RUDDER AND PUSHED NOSE FORWARD. PILOT AND PASSENGER DID NOT RECALL WITNESSING THE AIRCRAFT ROTATING ABOUT ITS AXIS. PILOT COMMENTED THAT HE OBSERVED THAT HE WAS ABOUT TO ENTER THE CLOUDS PLACING THE AIRCRAFT IN IMC AND OPTED TO DEPLOY THE BALLISTIC PARACHUTE. AIRCRAFT AND PASSENGERS LANDED SAFELY IN A GROVE OF TREES. WITNESSES ON THE GROUND REPORTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH HAIL, HEAVY RAIN, ZERO VISIBILITY, AND STRONG WINDS NEAR THE TIME THE AIRCRAFT WAS WITNESSED UNDER ITS PARACHUTE. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AHD ISSUED A CONVECTIVE SIGMET 49W FOR A 30 NM WIDE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM, TOPS TO 20,000 FT FROM 30 NM EAST NORTH EAST OF VOR PYE, 20 NM EAST SOUTH EAST OF VOR SAC, AND 30 NM NORTH EAST OF VOR MOD. THIS WARNING WAS ISSUED ON 09/19/04 AT 22:55Z. THE AIRCRAFT ENTERED INTO THE AIRSPACE AFFECTED BY THIS CONVECTIVE SIGMET AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME THAT IT WAS ISSUED. AT 23:05 Z ATC NOR TRACON RECORDED THE AIRCRAFT ALTITUDE AT 16,300 FT. TRACKING SHOWED AN AIRCRAFT ALTITUDE LOSS OF 1100 FT IN 23 SECONDS THEN AN ALTITUDE GAIN OF 1300 FT IN 19 SECONDS. ACCORDING TO THE ATC TRACKING RECORD THE AIRCRAFT APPEARS TO HAVE STALLED AT 23:05:47 Z AT AN ALTITUDE OF 16,700 FT JUST 10 MINUTES AFTER ENTERING THE AIRSPACE AFFECTED BY THE CONVECTIVE SIGMET. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE REPORTED A LEVEL 5 THUNDERSTORM WITHIN THE VICINITY OF THIS AIRCRAFT AT THE SAME TIME THAT THE AIRCRAFT LOSS OF CONTROL.

## The NTSB's investigation of this event (1)

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

- [NTSB LAX04LA324](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/LAX04LA324), Sep 19, 2004: Cirrus SR-22 (N931CD), Peters, CA, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's decision to continue flight into adverse weather and the subsequent encounter with the outer boundaries of a level 5 thunderstorm, which resulted in his loss of control of the airplane.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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