Cirrus Issues Safety Alert Re: “Recent Accidents”
Following “several recent accidents” Cirrus Aircraft and the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) have issued a safety alert that makes a training request of all Cirrus pilots. The alert urges Cirrus owners, regardless of their flight experience, to conduct a currency flight with a qualified Cirrus Training Center. Cirrus has created a specific training syllabus for the 1 to 1.5 hour training, which focuses on airspeed control, touchdown accuracy, approach stability and overall safety. Aside from seeking training, the alert requests that Cirrus pilots carefully review their aircraft’s operating procedures “with special attention to approach stability, traffic patterns, landing procedures and go-arounds.” AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation has found that Cirrus aircraft generally fare better in pilot-related takeoff, approach and maneuvering accidents, but worse in go-arounds.
Following "several recent accidents" Cirrus Aircraft and the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) have issued a safety alert (PDF) that makes a training request of all Cirrus pilots. The alert urges Cirrus owners, regardless of their flight experience, to conduct a currency flight with a qualified Cirrus Training Center. Cirrus has created a specific training syllabus for the 1 to 1.5 hour training, which focuses on airspeed control, touchdown accuracy, approach stability and overall safety. Aside from seeking training, the alert requests that Cirrus pilots carefully review their aircraft's operating procedures "with special attention to approach stability, traffic patterns, landing procedures and go-arounds." AOPA's Air Safety Foundation has found that Cirrus aircraft generally fare better in pilot-related takeoff, approach and maneuvering accidents, but worse in go-arounds.
The safety alert did not mention the specific crashes that provoked its dissemination. A July crash near Essex County Airport in New Jersey killed a senior associate dean at New York Medical College who also served as a program director for internal medicine at St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village, along with two of her relatives. Shortly after the crash, initial reports indicated that the doctor had attempted a go-around and that marks on the runway indicated a fresh prop strike.
