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Colorado Springs pilot force lands Cirrus SR22 on mountainous terrain

Submitted
Russ Ford and his wife Sheri were flying their Cirrus SR-22 single-engine plane over the remote Flat Tops Wilderness Area near Meeker, CO, on Saturday when he says the engine cut out. They were at about 12,000 feet over rough terrain and Russ had to make a quick decision; whether or not to deploy the plane's emergency parachute, which is designed to bring the entire plane safely to the ground. (www.kktv.com) More...

Ryan Jorgenson
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johncotton
John Cotton 20
Yes, nice job keeping his head under pressure. Glass it worked out well. I wish the press would refer to it properly though; he didn't crash, he executed a perfect forced landing.
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209flyboy
209flyboy 4
The press never gets anything right. They send the most inept people who don't know anything to investigate and incorrectly repot. Journalism these days is the worst.
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myalias
myalias 1
That's because there's little money in journalism these days. Ad revenues have collapsed.
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Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Thank you internet! Haven't bought a paper in years and hardly watch TV news anymore! They are all idiots, except for Fox News and even they get it wrong occasionally!
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bentwing60
bentwing60 7
Well done!
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zennermd
zennermd 4
Great decision making by the pilot. If they did slide off the cliff, is 700ft enough for parachute deployment?
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dllbmedia
D. Benjamin 3
He did a great job... that cliff though.. That cliff was coming for them fast! I would have been tempted to pull the handle, but at that point you're only along for the ride.
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davewitt
Dave Witt 3
Great job on the no injury forced landing!

I also had a full engine failure forced landing last September. No injury, but totaled our loved Cardinal RG.
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spinoneone
Paul Wisgerhof 4
If he was flying at 12,000 feet above mean sea level over the Flattops he was only 2000 feet or less above the ground.
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blucenturion
blucenturion 2
I've never seen a type with such frequent forced landings. No wonder a parachute system was designed for it. Why not just put a Lycoming in it?
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Todd6368
Todd Witt 1
Way to go!
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dral6503
Ed Berling 1
What happens to the plane?
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ah6oy
Jim DeTour 2
Helicopter sling loaded out of there by NTSB is easy guess. Firefighting helicopters of a larger size could handle it easy. Expect a bill if fuel starvation.
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fiveninerzero
fiveninerzero 1
Sling load even at 10K alt?
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myalias
myalias 2
The empty weight is 2225 lbs, so even a 212 could probably do it. If not, there are skycranes in Colorado that would make quick work of it.
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jbermo
jbermo 1
Is it true that a (CAPs) deployment of the Cirrus emergency parachute, renders the entire airplane as an unworthy write off after it settles back to earth?
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jbermo
jbermo 2
Unairworthy that is.
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doublet
doublet 1
Several have been rebuilt and are flying in the USA and other countries.
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tj2s
tj2s 1
Another SR22 engine failure. What's up with these things?
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Viperguy46
Jesse Carroll 1
Made in China?....LOL
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Kilocharlie
Kilocharlie 1
Arm chair comment but if he landed into the wind why not pull the chute following touchdown to assist in slowing it down and maybe preventing it from going over the cliff?
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myalias
myalias 1
Because if there is any wind it could catch the chute and pull the plane over the cliff.
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nsarkhosh
nsarkhosh 1
Well done, I only wish they would make SR-22 with Lycoming Engines.
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ayavner
Adam Yavner 0
"victim"?
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CHBHA
CB HARDY 0
What's up (or down) with all these SR22 mishaps?
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