Colorado Aviation Accidents & Incidents

On April 13, 2022, at 0704 mountain daylight time, a Cirrus Design SR22 airplane, N112TR, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Twin Lakes, Colorado. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.

The pilot reported that he initially leveled off at a cruise altitude of 17,000 ft msl. However, to remain above the cloud tops, he requested to climb to FL210 and then FL230. The climb segments were conducted at full power and full rich mixture. The fuel pump was set to low boost. During the climb from FL210 to FL230, the pilot noted a brief alternate air indication on the PFD. The engine was performing normally and producing full power at that time. Upon leveling off, he reduced engine power to approximately 65% to 75% and adjusted the fuel flow. The alternate air indication extinguished and all engine indications were normal. The pilot noted that he had seen the alternate air indication before and typically reduced engine power “a bit,” which extinguished the indication.

The pilot noted that, about 0657, a “drastic reduction” in engine power occurred. He observed an engine power indication of 10% to 15%. He immediately set the mixture to full rich and the fuel pump to high boost. He then adjusted the power lever in an attempt to restore engine power. None of the actions had any effect. During the descent the flight reentered IMC. After declaring an emergency with Denver Center and establishing best glide airspeed, he turned to a course toward a valley east of the airplane’s current position. About that time, smoke started to enter the cabin and he recalled thinking that restarting the engine was not going to be possible. As the airplane descended through the minimum safe altitude for the mountainous area, the pilot noticed a small circle of yellow/mountain peak appear on the multi-function display (MFD) indicating terrain was near; he decided to set the engine mixture control to idle/cutoff and deploy the CAPS. Once the parachute fully deployed, he turned off the electrical system and secured the cabin for touchdown. He recalled contacting the ground “hard” a few seconds later. The airplane came to rest upright in a mountain valley consisting of rocky terrain and low brush. The left wing was damaged at the main landing gear mounting point during the CAPS assisted touchdown.

A postaccident examination did not reveal any anomalies with respect to the engine itself. The induction air filter and ducting appeared intact and unobstructed. The induction air system alternate air door was intact and secure. It remained closed when magnetically latched and opened when hand/finger pressure was applied. The right turbocharger assembly appeared intact and was unremarkable. The left turbo compressor vanes were curled with corresponding scraping damage to the housing inlet consistent with contact while the vanes were rotating. The turbine vanes app