- Date
- June 19, 2024, 11:23 local (15:23 UTC)
- Place
- Litchfield, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N154WFCirrus Design SR20
- Defining event
- Maneuvering: Loss of control in flight
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO, Cirrus
- FAA report
- 20240619008759A
- Case key
- 194505
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The student pilot’s loss of control and the flight instructor’s delayed remedial reaction which resulted in a spin.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
While practicing power-off stalls during an instructional flight, the student pilot was flying when the airplane entered a spin to the right. The flight instructor attempted remedial action but was unable to recover from the spin. The flight instructor pulled the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) handle about 2,800 ft msl. The CAPS system deployed the parachute, and the airplane descended to the ground. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the composite fuselage from the firewall aft to the CAPS rocket/parachute exit area, and the rudder spar. There were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N154WF
- Reported as
- Cirrus Design SR20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1638
- Built
- 2006
- Airframe hours
- 7,509
- Engine
- Continental IO360ES27B, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Board Of Trustees Of Western Michigan University
- Registered owner
- Board Of Trustees Of Western Michigan University
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 13, 2024 · 11 hours before
- Departed
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Destination
- BTL · Battle Creek, MI
- Airport
- N/A
- Equipment
- Data recorder, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic primary flight display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Airframe parachute, Auto-pilot
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 27
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- January 8, 2024
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 398 total · 327 in this make and model · 271 as pilot in command · 95 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Student pilot
- Age
- 22
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 8 total · 8 in this make and model · 8 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- JYM, 10 nm away
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 22, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.5 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.