Photo courtesy of the NTSB.
The pilot who pulled the airframe parachute on a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet last month near Indianapolis did so after he failed to get the autopilot and autothrottle systems to disengage.
That comes from a newly released preliminary report from the NTSB’s investigation of the incident.
At around 8 a.m. on Nov. 25, the Vision Jet (registration N15VJ) took off on a positioning flight from the Indianapolis Regional Airport (MQJ). The pilot told the NTSB that the preflight and pre-takeoff checks were normal.
After retracting the landing gear and flaps, the pilot engaged the autopilot. However, shortly afterward the plane began transmitting audible and visual “gear unsafe” warnings. The plane then pitched up and lost engine power.
The pilot then tried to disconnect the autopilot from a yoke-mounted disconnect button, and he tried to discontinue the autothrottle system from a button mounted on the center console.
The small jet continued to pitch up and slow down, and the pilot believed that neither system disconnected. The pilot pulled the handle to deploy the Cirrus Airplane Parachute System (CAPS) just after the left wing dropped and the Vision Jet neared an aerodynamic stall, according to the preliminary report.
The plane landed in a retention pond near an industrial area and the pilot escaped without harm.
The report does not have any information on what caused the aircraft to pitch up and lose power or why the autopilot and autothrottle disengage buttons failed to return control of the plane to the pilot.
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Video shows Cirrus Vision Jet SF50 deploy parachute after takeoff near Indianapolis
First Cirrus Airframe Parachute System deployment on a fielded Vision Jet confirmed
This is the second-ever known deployment of CAPS on a Cirrus Vision Jet, of which deliveries began in December 2016. The first parachute deployment was in September of this year in Florida; the pilot and two passengers suffered minor injuries.
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