SR22 crash involved racecar driver

So it appears the pilot flew from Reno to San Francisco, to South Lake
Tahoe, and on an additional 1-1/2+ hours to the impact site. There
was no post crash fire...

Does the SR22's CG shift much as a result of fuel burn?

Would a glass wing be more prone to having large areas of leading edge
ice break away all at once than one made of aluminum?




On Thu, 02 Nov 2006 07:31:44 -0600, "mdwhitcomb"
wrote in :
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?e...31X01585&key=1


Identification: LAX07FA021
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, October 25, 2006 in Meadview, AZ
Aircraft: Cirrus SR22, registration: N121LD
Injuries: 4 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may
contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when
the final report has been completed.

On October 25, 2006, at 1208 mountain standard time, a Cirrus
SR22, N121LD, reported icing conditions at 13,000 feet mean sea
level (msl), disappeared from radar, and then impacted terrain
about 24 nautical miles northeast of Meadview, Arizona. The pilot
was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of
Federal Regulations Part 91. The instrument rated private pilot
and three passengers sustained fatal injuries and the airplane was
destroyed. A combination of visual and meteorological conditions
prevailed along the route of flight and the airplane was being
operated under an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance. The
pilot departed from Lake Tahoe Airport, South Lake Tahoe,
California, about 1030 Pacific daylight time, and was destined for
the Grand Canyon National Park Airport, Grand Canyon, Arizona.

According to a family friend, the pilot met his wife and two
children in the San Francisco area on October 23. On October 24,
they flew to South Lake Tahoe where they spent the night. On
October 25, the day of the accident, the pilot planned to fly to
the Grand Canyon where he and his family would go hiking.

The airplane was last refueled at a fixed base operator at the
Reno/Tahoe International Airport, Reno, Nevada, on October 23. The
fueling invoice indicated that the right and left fuel tanks were
topped off with the addition of 24.1 gallons of fuel. On the
invoice, the pilot's estimated departure time from the airport was
noted as 1000 on October 24.

A fixed base operator employee at Lake Tahoe Airport stated that
the pilot arrived at the airport on October 24, from Reno. The
airplane was secured to the ramp and no fueling services were
provided. The pilot returned to the airport the following morning
and found frost on the airplane. He and his family waited while
the sun rose and melted the frost accumulation. They departed
about 1030.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge,
an Safety Board specialist from the Office of Research and
Engineering, two Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors
from the Las Vegas Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), and
one investigator from FAA Aircraft Accident Investigation
responded to the accident site on October 26, 2007. Additional
investigative personnel from Cirrus Design Corporation, Ballistic
Recovery Systems (BRS), AmSafe Aviation, and Teledyne Continental
Motors, who were parties to the investigation, responded to the
site to assist.

The airplane impacted sloped desert terrain at an elevation of
approximately 4,520 feet msl on a westerly heading. All of the
flight control surfaces were attached or partially attached to the
structure. There was no fire. The wreckage was generally confined
to the impact area, and except for the area immediately
surrounding the wreckage, minimal ground scarring was observed.

The Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) was examined. The
parachute was out of its housing, draped over the empennage and
aft fuselage section of the airframe. Some of the gores (panels
that make up the canopy of the parachute) remained folded. The
suspension lines were intact and undamaged. The deployment cable
was continuous from the cockpit handle aft through the fuselage to
the rocket housing area. The rocket and the deployment bag cover
were located approximately 288 feet east of the accident site.

Based on preliminary weather information obtained by a Safety
Board meteorologist, local weather included AIRMETS (Airman's
Meteorological Information) for icing (approximately 65 nautical
miles northeast of the accident site) and moderate turbulence
(within the accident site area). In addition, a convective SIGMET
(Significant Meteorological Information) was issued for an area
encompassing the accident site. A convective SIGMET implies severe
or greater turbulence, severe icing, and low-level wind shear.