On 12 May 2021, Key Lime Air Flight 970, a Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner operating a chartered cargo flight from Salida to Centennial, Colorado collided in mid-air with a private Cirrus SR22. Despite having sustained severe damage, the Swearingen Metroliner managed to land safely while the Cirrus SR22 deployed its CAPS system and safely parachuted to the ground. All three occupants on board both aircraft survived uninjured.
Accident
Tail section of Key Lime Air Flight 970 at Centennial Airport
At about 10:20 AM local time, a Cirrus SR22 light aircraft collided in mid-air with Key Lime Air Flight 970, an air charter cargo flight from Salida, Colorado, operated by a Swearingen SA226-TC Metroliner over Cherry Creek State Park in Arapahoe County. The collision destroyed a large section of the cabin of the Metroliner and damaged the empennage, but the pilot—who was the sole aircraft occupant and, based on communications with air traffic control (ATC), was initially unaware of the extent of the damage—was able to make a safe landing at Centennial Airport despite the significant damage to the fuselage and subsequent difficulties with the right-hand engine. The pilot of the Cirrus, which was a private rental aircraft on a local flight from Centennial Airport, deployed the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) and made a safe parachute-assisted forced landing near Cherry Creek Reservoir; the pilot and single passenger were not injured.[1][2]
Investigation
Wreckage of the Cirrus SR22
The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the accident was caused by failures of airmanship and ATC. The SR22 pilot flew too fast in the airfield traffic pattern and overshot his turn, resulting in the SR22 crossing the extended centerline of the parallel runway where the Metroliner was on final approach for landing. When the collision occurred, the SR22 wing flaps had been lowered to 50% but the aircraft was flying at 140 kn (160 mph; 260 km/h), much faster than the recommended speed of 85–90 kn (98–104 mph; 157–167 km/h) per the aircraft flight manual. Furthermore, the two parallel runways were being worked by different ATC controllers using different radio frequencies; the controller talking to the SR22 pilot issued traffic advisories regarding the Metroliner as required by regulations, but the other controller did not tell the Metroliner pilot about the approaching SR22, and thus the Metroliner pilot was unaware of the other aircraft and did not know to take evasive action.[3][4]
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