- Date
- November 14, 2021, 17:52 UTC
- Place
- Burnsville, NC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N633CDCirrus Design SR22
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20211114019489A
- Case key
- 104241
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 pilot’s failure to compensate for the high density altitude and the tailwind component while landing at a mountaintop airport, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a loss of aircraft control.
Findings · 5
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
The pilot was performing a visual approach to a mountaintop airport with an estimated density altitude of 9,860 ft, and a tailwind component. He stated he “carried some extra speed” during the approach to compensate for wind and turbulence that he described as “burpy.” As he started to flare, he got pushed hard to his left. He lowered the nose and increased engine power to abort the landing, but the airplane struck trees and a small building before coming to rest inside the wood line on the left side of the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. Airport surveillance video depicted the airplane on approach, and as its attitude flattened in the landing flare, its nose and left wing deflected downward, and the airplane departed the left side of the runway where it struck trees and a building. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N633CD
- Reported as
- Cirrus Design SR22 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 0369
- Built
- 2002
- Airframe hours
- 2,075
- Engine
- Continental IO-550N, 310 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Polaris Fire Protection Inc
- Registered owner
- Polaris Fire Protection Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 16, 2021
- Departed
- FHB · Fernandina Beach, FL
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- 2NC0 · Mountain Air, runway 14/32, 2,900 × 50 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather
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
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 54
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- BasicMed
- Last flight review
- October 20, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 2,395 total · 2,198 in this make and model · 2,344 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.93 inHg
- Observed at
- KAVL, 28 nm away
- METAR
- KAVL 141754Z 23005KT 10SM CLR 11/M02 A2993 RMK AO2 SLP134 T01111017 10111 21022 58037
Docket · 4
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 20, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 823 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.