# NTSB DCA07MA003: Cirrus Design SR-20, N929CD, Manhattan, NYC, NY, October 11, 2006 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Class 1 · Major · Final report - Date: October 11, 2006, 14:42 local (18:42 UTC) - Place: Manhattan, NYC, NY - Coordinates: 40.76594, -73.952373 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.7659&lon=-73.9524&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 2 fatal, 1 serious, 2 minor; on the ground: 1 serious, 2 minor - Status: Completed, report June 27, 2007 - Report: Board-adopted at Board Meeting - Investigation class: Class 1 - NTSB office: Major Investigations Division - Parties: Ballistic Recovery Systems Parachutes, NTSB New Jersey Field Office, Federal Aviation Administration, NTSB Headquarters, Teledyne Continental Motors, Cirrus Design - Safety recommendations: Yes - NTSB case key (mKey): 64679 - NTSB case page: https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/Pages/DCA07MA003.aspx - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/64679/pdf - Board report AAB0702 (PDF): https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAB0702.pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=64679 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/DCA07MA003 ## Probable cause The pilots' inadequate planning, judgment, and airmanship in the performance of a 180º turn maneuver inside of a limited turning space. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with object, maneuvering - turn to reverse direction - in-flight planning/decision - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - object - residence - judgment - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) - aircraft handling - inadequate, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis [The Safety Board's full brief is available at http://ntsb.gov/Publictn/pubictn.htm. The Aviation Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-07/02] On October 11, 2006, about 1442 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus Design SR20, N929CD, operated as a personal flight, crashed into an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, while attempting to maneuver above the East River. The two pilots on board the airplane, a certificated private pilot who was the owner of the airplane and a passenger who was a certificated commercial pilot with a flight instructor certificate, were killed. One person on the ground sustained serious injuries, two people on the ground sustained minor injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. Marginal visual flight rules (MVFR) conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. ## Factual narrative On October 11, 2006, about 1442 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus Design SR20, N929CD, operated as a personal flight, crashed into an apartment building in Manhattan, New York City, while attempting to maneuver above the East River. The two pilots on board the airplane, a certificated private pilot who was the owner of the airplane and a passenger who was a certificated commercial pilot with a flight instructor certificate, were killed. One person on the ground sustained serious injuries, two people on the ground sustained minor injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and postcrash fire. The flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91, and no flight plan was filed. Marginal visual flight rules (MVFR) conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The accident airplane departed Teterboro Airport (TEB), Teterboro, New Jersey, about 1429 and was cleared for a visual flight rules (VFR) departure. According to air traffic control (ATC) transcripts, the pilots acknowledged that they were to stay out of the New York class B airspace. After takeoff, the accident airplane turned southeast and climbed to an altitude of about 600 to 800 feet. When the flight reached the western shore of the Hudson River, it turned to the south, remaining over the river, then descended to 500 feet. The flight continued southbound over the Hudson River until abeam of the southern tip of Manhattan, at which point, the flight turned southwest bound. Radar data from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK), Jamaica, New York; Newark International Airport (EWR), Newark, New Jersey; and Westchester County Airport (HPN), White Plains, New York, indicated that the accident airplane's altitude varied from 500 to 700 feet for the remainder of the flight. About 1436, the airplane flew around the Statue of Liberty then headed to the northeast, at which point, it proceeded to fly over the East River. About 1 mile north of the Queensboro Bridge, the airplane made a left turn to reverse its course. Radar contact was lost about 1442. The airplane impacted a 520-foot tall apartment building at 524 East 72nd Street, 333 feet above street level. [The Safety Board's full brief is available at http://ntsb.gov/Publictn/pubictn.htm. The Aviation Accident Brief number is NTSB/AAB-07/02] ## Aircraft - Registration: [N929CD](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N929CD-2011-06-30), registration cancelled 2011-06-30, S/N 1230, built 2002 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cirrus Design Corp. SR-20 - Registry model: [Cirrus Design SR20](https://openairdocs.org/model/cirrus-design-sr20) (registry code 2130000) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Lycoming I0-360-ES](https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-i0-360-es) (registry code 41596, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 1230 - Engines: Teledyne Continental IO-360-E(6)B 200 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Personal, Part 91 - Registered owner: Cory Lidle - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: TEB, Teterboro Airpo, NJ ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 34; injuries: fatal; private; airplane ratings: single-engine land; medical: class 3, without waivers/limitations; last flight review February 1, 2006; seat: left; toxicology performed; flight hours: 88 total, 13 in this make and model, 14 in the last 90 days, 0 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours - Pilot; age 26; injuries: fatal; commercial, flight instructor; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, without waivers/limitations; last flight review September 1, 2003; seat: right; toxicology performed; flight hours: 861 total, 759 as pilot in command, 81 in the last 90 days, 35 in the last 30 days, 0 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 60° at 6 knots - Visibility: 7 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 1,800 ft overcast - Temperature: 63 °F, dew point 55 °F - Altimeter: 29.89 inHg ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20061011029619A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20061011029619A), Oct 11, 2006: Cirrus SR20, Manhattan, NY, Destroyed, 2 fatal. (-23) Aircraft impacted building during unsuccessful attempt to remain within class b exclusionary airspace over east river, Manhattan, new york, NY, during… ## Docket (24 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 5, 2007, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=64679. 17.1 MB in all. - Operations 2 - Factual Report (item 1, .PDF, 25 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269343&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Operations%202%20-%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF - Operations 2 - Addendum 1 (item 2, .PDF, 1.7 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271704&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Operations%202%20-%20Addendum%201-Redacted.PDF - Operations 2 - Attachments (item 3, .PDF, 1.5 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269059&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Operations%202%20-%20Attachments-Redacted.PDF - ATC 3 - Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 4, .PDF, 460 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271639&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=ATC%203%20-%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Witness 4 - Factual Report (item 5, .PDF, 3 photos, 562 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269060&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witness%204%20-%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF - Witness 4 - Attachment A: Police Interview Summaries Pertaining to Eyewitnesses (item 6, .PDF, 655 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40418410&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witness%204%20-%20Attachment%20A%3A%20Police%20Interview%20Summaries%20Pertaining%20to%20Eyewitnesses-Redacted.PDF - Witness 4 - Attachment B: Eyewitness Statements and Interview Summaries (item 7, .PDF, 288 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40418411&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witness%204%20-%20Attachment%20B%3A%20Eyewitness%20Statements%20and%20Interview%20Summaries-Redacted.PDF - Meteorology 5 - Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 8, .PDF, 111 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269189&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Meteorology%205%20-%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Powerplants 8 - Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 9, .PDF, 6 photos, 695 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271712&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Powerplants%208%20-%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Powerplants 8 - Attachment 1 to Factual Report (item 10, .PDF, 26 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271708&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Powerplants%208%20-%20Attachment%201%20to%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF - Materials Laboratory Factual Report 06-095 (item 11, .PDF, 2 photos, 409 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40268984&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Materials%20Laboratory%20Factual%20Report%2006-095-Master.PDF - Airworthiness - Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 12, .PDF, 34 photos, 3.8 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269011&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Airworthiness%20-%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Airworthiness - Attachment 1 to Factual Report (item 13, .PDF, 911 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269012&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Airworthiness%20-%20Attachment%201%20to%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF - Aircraft Performance 13 - Aircraft Performance Study (item 14, .PDF, 1.2 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269253&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Aircraft%20Performance%2013%20-%20Aircraft%20Performance%20Study-Master.PDF - Multi-Function Display Factual Report of Investigation (item 15, .PDF, 4 photos, 205 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40269600&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Multi-Function%20Display%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Investigation-Master.PDF - GPS 17 - Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 16, .PDF, 59 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271666&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=GPS%2017%20-%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Video Factual Report (item 17, .PDF, 3 photos, 331 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40271909&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Video%20Factual%20Report-Master.PDF - Meteorology 5 - Amended Factual Report of Group Chairman (item 18, .PDF, 111 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40272381&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Meteorology%205%20-%20Amended%20Factual%20Report%20of%20Group%20Chairman-Master.PDF - Airworthiness - Addendum 1 (item 19, .PDF, 17 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40273906&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Airworthiness%20-%20Addendum%201-Master.PDF - ATC 3 - TEB Local Control Transcript (item 20, .PDF, 32 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40273950&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=ATC%203%20-%20TEB%20Local%20Control%20Transcript-Master.PDF - ATC 3 - TEB Clearance Delivery Transcript (item 21, .PDF, 27 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40273951&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=ATC%203%20-%20TEB%20Clearance%20Delivery%20Transcript-Master.PDF - ATC 3 - TEB Ground Control Transcript (item 22, .PDF, 29 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40273952&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=ATC%203%20-%20TEB%20Ground%20Control%20Transcript-Master.PDF - Animation Description and Disclaimer (item 23, .PDF, 9 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40304899&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Animation%20Description%20and%20Disclaimer-Master.PDF - Animation Video File (item 24, WMV, 4.0 MB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40304901&FileExtension=wmv&FileName=Animation%20Video%20File-Master 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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.