WPR25LA001

NTSB accident investigation · Cirrus Design SR22 · Bakersfield, CA · October 2, 2024

Accident · Serious injuriesClass 3 · LimitedPreliminary report
Date
October 2, 2024, 13:47 local (20:47 UTC)
Place
Bakersfield, CA
Injuries
1 serious
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Enroute
Aircraft
N752BCirrus Design SR22
Defining event
Enroute-cruise: Loss of engine power (partial)
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Investigation ongoing
Investigation class
Class 3
NTSB office
Western Pacific Region
Parties
Continental Motors, Inc., Federal Aviation Administration, Cirrus Aircraft
FAA report
20241002021149A
Case key
195252

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

On this page

Preliminary report

What NTSB knew early in the investigation. It may change in the final report.

On October 2, 2024, about 1347 Pacific daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, N752B, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Bakersfield, California. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. According to the pilot, he refueled the airplane and departed Tulare, California, with about 75 gallons of 100 low lead aviation grade gasoline onboard and the low boost pump on. After departure, he climbed to 13,000 ft mean sea level (msl). When the pilot turned the low boost pump off the engine immediately started to run rough and began misfiring. The pilot then declared an emergency and the engine started to lose power. He attempted to run the engine on the high boost pump, which reduced the engine roughness; however, he was unsuccessful in restoring engine power. At 1,200 ft msl, he identified a potential landing area and pulled the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, but the parachute did not deploy. The pilot stated that he didn't pull the CAPS activation handle hard enough as the parachute deployed immediately after he pulled the handle a second time. The pilot did not recall any further details from his recount of the accident. Surveillance video captured the airplane’s final 4 seconds of flight, which showed the airplane’s shadow as it traversed a road. The airplane and its parachute came into view in the remaining two seconds of video, which showed it impact the ground in a nose low and right wing low attitude. The parachute then settled near the main wreckage. Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that fuselage and right wing was substantially damaged. The airplane has been retained for further examination.

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.

Aircraft

Registration
N752B
Reported as
Cirrus Design SR22
Category
Airplane
Serial number
3157
Built
2008
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Departed
TLR · Tulare, CA
Destination
HND · Henderson, NV
Airport
BFL · Meadows Field AIrport

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.

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
270° at 4 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
99 °F, dew point 52 °F
Altimeter
29.83 inHg
Observed at
KBFL, 1 nm away
METAR
KBFL 022054Z 27004KT 10SM CLR 37/11 A2983 RMK AO2 SLP093 T03670111 58025

FAA reports on this event · 1

The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.