Cirrus SR22 · NTSB accident record

The Engine That Went QuietCEN22FA405

A brand-new SR22, a factory instructor in the right seat, and a silent engine on a visual approach

Date
Thursday, September 1, 2022
Time
~5:07 PM CDT
Weather
VMC · clear · 10 SM · wind 230 at 7 kt · 90°F
Location
David Wayne Hooks (KDWH), near Spring, TX
Age
67
Hours in type (Cirrus SR22)
12 hrs
Final leg
KMLUMonroe, LA
KDWHHooks, Spring TX
Aircraft
Model
Cirrus SR22 (3 days old)
Avionics
Cirrus Perspective+ glass, AFCS
Fuel aboard
92 gal, topped off at Monroe
The change of plan

You accepted delivery of the new SR22 in Knoxville on Monday for a week of transition training. This morning you woke up unwell. You and the factory instructor broke off training to fly to your home base at Hooks. You never settled who was pilot-in-command, or who does what in an emergency.

The instructor's distress

You topped off at Monroe — full tanks. About ten minutes after departure the instructor said he needed to urinate, declined the urinal you offered, and has shifted, grimaced, and said little for the rest of the flight.

The visual approach

Approaching Hooks in clear weather, the controller offers the full RNAV 17R or the visual. The instructor takes the visual. You've never flown one in this airplane. You turn final, pick up the runway and PAPI, and the descent path looks good.

At Hooks
Weather
Clear, 10 sm, 90°F, wind 230° at 7
Headsets
All three noise-canceling
"Give it some throttle"

The airspeed starts to bleed off. The instructor tells you to add power.

By the numbers
687
fuel-starvation accidents
46
a year
87%
were survivable
118
lives lost in them
81%
of Cirrus parachute pulls survived
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NTSB accidents, 2011–2025
The decision

The throttle isn't producing power and the airspeed is decaying on final. What do you do?