EAA Sport Aviation

THE ATP CERTIFICATED PILOT was highly experienced with more than 18,500 hours logged. He held flight instructor ratings for singles and multis, was commercially rated in helicopters and seaplanes, and held a Learjet type rating. He also had a current first class medical certificate.

It’s impossible for me to imagine a pilot more qualified to fly
a nearly new Cirrus SR22 high-performance piston single from
York, Nebraska, to Eagle Creek Airpark in Indianapolis.

For any pilot to accumulate so many hours and so many certificates and ratings he would have had to have received training on all aspects of flying many times, including flight physiology. Such training is a requirement to earn a jet type rating as he held, and is also at least a part of the required retraining and checking to keep a type rating current.

The Cirrus was a turbocharged model capable of cruising at a certified ceiling of 25,000 feet. Actually, the Cirrus could have climbed to a higher altitude, but it was FAA approved only to 25,000 feet. Over the years the FAA has become more demanding in setting maximum operating altitudes for turbocharged unpressurized airplanes. Some turbocharged piston airplanes certified under the previous rules have no operating altitude limitation and can fly as high as they will climb. But the SR22 is a very recent design and meets the latest standards.

The SR22 was owned by a non-pilot who purchased the air-
plane to travel between York and Indianapolis regularly. He hired
the accident pilot to fly him on the route during the week. The
owner told the NTSB that the pilot routinely flew westbound to
Nebraska at lower altitudes to avoid the strongest head winds, but
they would fly east usually at the SR22’s maximum approved
sr t d r

A Very Hostile Environment

BY J. MAC MCCLELLAN

High altitude flying risks are sometimes not given their due r t u

altitude of 25,000 feet to take advantage of stronger tail winds.

On the day of the accident the pilot flew the owner on the 525-nautical-mile trip from Eagle Creek to York at an altitude of 6,000 feet. The NTSB does not report how long that westbound trip took, but with typical winds it would have been around three hours.

o y o l l i
The Center controller
noted that the pilot’s voice
had changed, and had
taken on a “helium/Mickey
Mouse” quality.

For the return trip to Eagle Creek the pilot departed York under VFR and contacted Minneapolis Center to pick up his IFR clearance. The flight was incrementally cleared to the requested cruise altitude of 25,000 feet.