Cirrus SR22 N253BC accident near Martinsville, Virginia

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain a positive climb rate after takeoff while distracted by primary flight display anomaly and terrain alerts. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to take off with the airplane over its maximum gross weight, which reduced its initial climb performance.

NTSB analysis

The pilot had just refueled the airplane and planned to fly a night, visual flight rules, cross-country flight. The pilot used 50% flaps for the normal takeoff; after he established a positive rate of climb, the pilot retracted the flaps. Shortly after retracting the flaps, the primary flight display (PFD) reportedly “blinked off” momentarily and then reappeared with a “Taxiway! Taxiway!” alert, and the multifunction display (MFD) screen was orange, which confused the pilot. He then looked up, saw a large pine tree ahead, and attempted to avoid the tree; however, the airplane impacted trees, resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. After the tree impact, the pilot was able to maintain control of the airplane, return to the departure airport, and land uneventfully.

Examination of the PFD and MFD databases revealed no anomalies that would have resulted in a PFD malfunction. Postaccident examination of the airplane and avionics revealed no malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.

Review of onboard data revealed that after retracting the flaps from 50%, the airplane began to descend despite no change in engine power. The descent continued until the recorded airspeed decreased to 0 kts and became unreliable, likely as a result of tree impact damage to the pitot tube. The data further revealed that there was no recorded electrical power loss or loss of engine power throughout the flight.

Recorded data revealed that the airplane was over its maximum gross weight at the time of the accident, which likely led to a longer takeoff distance and reduced climb performance.

The airplane’s avionics display was capable of providing terrain warnings and alerts. During the accident flight, the airplane was operated within the performance envelope that would trigger a “Too Low, Terrain” caution message, and the terrain would be illuminated amber. The system was also capable of alerting the pilot when the system detected that the airplane was taking off or landing on a non-runway. These alerts will provide a voice alert of “Taxiway” and a visual annunciation of “TWY TAKEOFF” or “TWY LANDING,” respectively. It is likely that when the pilot allowed the airplane to descend, the MFD terrain turned amber in color to alert the pilot of being too low, and the system calculated that the pilot was landing on a non-runway, which then triggered the “TWY LANDING” visual and aural alert. Although the terrain alerting function appears to have operated as designed, the pilot’s lack of understanding of the alerts likely distracted him and led him to interpret their display as an avionics failure.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA24LA007 for the full record.