Friday, September 02, 2022

Cirrus SR22 G6, N420SS: Fatal accident occurred September 01, 2022 near David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (KDWH), Harris County, Texas

National Transportation Safety Board - Accident Number: CEN22FA405 

Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Houston, Texas

Aircraft crashed under unknown circumstances. 

Cirrus Design Corporation


Date: 01-SEP-22
Time: 20:23:00Z
Regis#: N420SS
Aircraft Make: CIRRUS
Aircraft Model: SR22
Event Type: ACCIDENT
Highest Injury: FATAL
Total Fatal: 1
Flight Crew: 1 Fatal 
Pax: 2 Minor
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: PERSONAL
Flight Phase: APPROACH (APR)
Operation: 91
City: HOUSTON
State: TEXAS

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation may contact them by email witness@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov. You can also call the NTSB Response Operations Center at 844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290.







Pilot David Stoneking from Spring, Texas and passenger Kim Hazelwood of Livingston, Texas were injured in a single-engine plane crash on Thursday, September 1, in the Tomball area of Houston in Harris County.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the plane was traveling from Tennessee and stopped in Louisiana to refuel before continuing to Houston. It is believed that the plane experienced engine trouble near Hooks Airport in Spring and crashed in between two mobile homes on Monterrey Pine Place. Hazelwood, 56, and Stoneking, 67, were taken to Memorial Hermann in the Woodlands for treatment of their injuries. Another occupant in the plane was killed in the crash.

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the accident.


KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (WVLT) - One person was killed and two were injured after a plane, which departed from Knoxville, crashed between two mobile homes in Spring, Texas, according to officials. The pilot died in the crash and the two passengers sustained minor injuries, according to the preliminary report from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Christopher Jensen, of Murfreesboro, was the pilot of the plane and died at the hospital following the crash, according to Texas Department of Public Safety Trooper Richard Standifer. Standifer said there was one female and two males on board, identified as Kim Hazlewood of Livingston, Texas and David Stoneking of Spring, Texas. He also said all three were taken to the hospital.

Cirrus Aircraft released a statement following the crash, confirming the pilot was one of their employees. The full statement can be read below:

We are deeply saddened by the death of a Cirrus Aircraft team member involved in a Cirrus SR Series accident that occurred on Thursday, September 1 in Tomball, Texas near David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport.

Our immediate thoughts and prayers are with our team member’s family, the aircraft occupants and all those affected.

Cirrus Aircraft is actively supporting all appropriate authorities in the investigation. With respect to those involved and as the initial investigation begins, we will not comment on the accident details or speculate about the accident’s cause. -Cirrus Aircraft

The Cirrus SR22 took off from McGhee Tyson Airport with three people and crashed on the way to David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport around 5 p.m. local time, according to officials with the Federal Aviation Administration.

As the plane was trying to land, it lost power and hit a tree, according to Standifer. The FAA reported Friday the plane crashed “under unknown circumstances.”

“The good lord is good,” Standifer said. “The plane was able to come to rest in between two houses, so it didn’t encroach on any of the residences.”

Standifer said there was a parachute deployed but it was attached to the plane. He said he believed it was used to slow the descent of the plane while it was going down.

Initial reports indicated that about 75 gallons of gas leaked from the plane, according to officials with the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office.

Officials with the National Transportation Safety Board announced they were investigating the crash.


A Cirrus Aircraft employee died Thursday night in a plane crash near Spring, Texas, a company spokesperson confirmed.

The Cirrus SR-22 took off from McGhee Tyson Airport with three people and crashed on the way to David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport at around 5 p.m. local time, according to officials with the Federal Aviation Administration.

"We are deeply saddened," Cirrus spokeswoman Nadia Haidar said in a prepared statement. "Our immediate thoughts and prayers are with our team member’s family, the aircraft occupants and all those affected."

Hairdar declined to comment further, citing the investigation and respect for the families involved.

As the plane was trying to land, it lost power and hit a tree, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

An official from the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed the plane crashed on its approach to the airport and said it was sending an investigator. According to the spokesperson, a preliminary report will likely be completed in about three weeks but the full investigation report, including the cause of the crash, can take up to a year.

Two other people were on board and were transported to a local hospital. No further information was available as of Friday afternoon.

Cirrus Aircraft recently underwent a major expansion to its Knoxville campus, adding three 12,000-square-foot airplane hangars to its facility next to McGhee Tyson Airport.

54 comments:

  1. Possibly another Cirrus engine out. Cirrus making the headlines again.

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    1. Looks like the engine may have been developing power at impact by the bending of the propellor blades in pics online. Much more likely weather or pilot related, despite the pilot being a CFI.

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    2. I didn't see the photos you are referring to. Figured most buyers are opting for structural composites which would probably not bend and stay bent. Chute appears to be linear - deployed on ground or very low altitude. I hope more is published on this soon as I do a lot of time in a turbo g6.

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  2. Nothing at all wrong with Cirrus aircraft. It's the pilots, as usual.

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    1. What was the pilot error?

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    2. Been a fair amount of engine failures.

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    3. And what exactly about this makes you think pilot error?

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    4. Moody River, you, sir, are a moron.

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    5. My sr22 crash was engine failure through no fault of my own!

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    6. Moody River, are you really joe biden, because that's something his ignorant brain would make him say.

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  3. Unfortunately looks like low level microburst encounter.

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    1. Weather report indicates 10 miles visibility at 17:00.

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    2. I don’t think it was weather-related. There were no storms within 10 miles of the field at that time and any outflows related to the storms farther away were fairly weak and did not arrive until over an hour after the accident.

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  4. Could it have been a brand new plane? Cirrus has new owner training school/delivery in Knoxville now...

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    1. Yes it was. Plane was being delivered from factory in Knoxville. CFI was with pilot / owner.

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    2. Such a sad ending, how is this possible..From all the accidents reported, so many of this model are fatal if the chute is not deployed...

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    3. Location of the incident indicates he was on short final at Hooks airport. Probably a low altitude event.

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    4. Above it says the engine lost power. They had stopped for fuel between Knoxville and Hooks Airport so fuel shouldn't have been an issue. Looking at Google maps there's a large open field just NW of the accident site. Also, although not ideal there was a large ditch just to the left of the flight path. Would have been better than hitting trees. Prayers for the family.

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  5. Plane was being delivered from factory by CFI and new owners. That's really all I need to know as to why it crashed on final at Home airport.

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    1. If I win the lottery I think I'll have the brand new Cirrus ferried to me by the manufacturer and one of their test pilots.

      Read this:
      https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AIR2204.pdf

      and google N707DF - there seems to be a pattern here...

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    2. This was a new G6, has the lock out to preclude "High Boost" mode while in flight below 10,000 feet.

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    3. If you read the NTSB information, Cirrus admits the lockout does not always work, per PIREPS.

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    4. Hard to believe that Cirrus issued Service Advisory SA19-01 way back in January 22, 2019 to inform owners of the software bug but the linked report dated April 12, 2022 indicates no fix three years later. Getting the H1-B approved to bring in competent expertise doesn't take three years.

      Maybe a takeaway here is that a barometric switch should have been put on as a standalone hardware solution if software expertise is lacking.

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    5. Not sure it applies. This was a plain SR22 and not SR22T. So SA doesn't seem to apply.

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  6. Second serious accident direct from Cirrus facility this year. First one was this past Winter with customer/vendor on board in a marketing test. 2 is a trend. Glad I declined a position there 3 years ago. Arrogance and immunity seemed to be the attitudes during my interview(s). VP/Board Member of company also crashed his personal airplane in recent years, nearly died. Spoke at NBAA about how important he is. Don't they also train type ratings for the Jet there? Keep being the best selling GA airplane Cirrus.

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    1. "Arrogance and immunity."

      Long-time Cirrus CFI and fanboy here (since 2001), former CSIP, several thousand hours dual given on the SR platform.

      Sadly, sir or madam, your assessment is absolutely correct.

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    2. From a multiple Cirrus SR-22 owner’s perspective I’m not aware of another GA Aircraft manufacturer that’s done as much for implementing safety into their planes and training their customers. The CSIP program, Cirrus Approach, the parachute, AM-Safe inflatable safety harness, electronic stability protection (ESP), Safe Glide, and the most advanced avionics in GA aircraft, are just some of the notable advances made by this company and it’s employees. NTSB accident records over the past 14 years bear the safety of these advancements out.

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    3. Two incidents is not a trend but just one more than an anecdote. It is time that an organization like AOPA really take a hard look at the numbers and give a realistic perspective.

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    4. Correction: accidents not incidents

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    5. And yet they keep crashing and killing..

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  7. Implementation of safety in the equipment and support elements is bar none among the competition. Correct. No one else has done that...for $1.2M an aircraft. Implementation of leadership from the highest level within a company by executing that safety (etched in glass at every entryway) rather than hitchhiking on its propaganda every late July is weak leadership. No one is immune to the risk of taking a machine flying. Not even Cirrus. Don't confuse the two arguments "the declined position guy" is making. They haven't cured cancer. Perhaps even developed a new kind. CSIP, owner, no CSIP, factory instructor and back for over 12 years here, Whatever...The current reaction internally within the company is "This was gonna happen at some point...why is leadership reacting so poorly?" Curious as to the "glad I declined a position" commenter is... Good move.

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  8. And I'm a "Gal". Not a "declined position guy". Thank you.

    Speaking of "trends vs. the anecdotal", this seems to be a "trend" in hearing this type of culture within this company's flight department. Nonetheless, a person has perished who likely did everything they could up to impact. As you say, we take machines flying. Likely neither culture nor equipment "trends" will be found at fault in this particular tragedy.

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  9. To the person who started their reply “implementation of safety equipment”….a new SR-22 doesn’t cost 1.2m, so one doesn’t have to spend that amount of money to get the safety features, training/education, etc. The features I mentioned, and the training, are available on 600k SR-20’s. I personally know several CSIP’s, three of whom have provided instruction to me in my plane, and there’s absolutely no indication from them about the company’s leadership impacting their ability to provide quality training. I’m confident the CSIP who ferried this plane was entirely competent, but even the most competent pilots fall victim to accidents some times.

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    1. No, not well said. Totally incompetent and invalid argument not based on any current fact. Cirrus raised prices again in 2023 to the tune of 8.5%. Of course your CSIPs (who are independent CFIs likely not directly employed by Cirrus) are completely unaware of the toxic culture there. If they were employed by Cirrus, they're high. It does, however, cost 1.15M after normal options in 2023. Add the custom paint and interior package and it brings it to 1.9M. Any company that names a product line "Xi" and is solely owned by a Chinese manufacturer of Chinese military aircraft traded in China is also high. Wake up. Comparing pricing of 20 year old aircraft generations with the current product line also makes you high. Oh you bought a couple of Cirrus and someone claiming to be a factory expert blew smoke up your ass during training? The loyal happy customer has just returned from Mt Sinai everyone! Let us proclaim what is carved into stone! Stop lying.

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  10. 600K for a SR20, must be due to insane product liability, not cost of construction. used ones were 125 to 150 before covid.

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  11. I suspect high DA made the engine quit. An AP I know told me those planes need to have their engine's mixture adjusted twice in summer and winter. I had a brand new SR20 and the engine just quit on landing on the runway when I pulled the throttle... so might have been the same situation. Although it was an SR20 G6 so IO-390.

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    1. I would assume they were carrying some power on final so I would think less likely to quit on final. I have a 390 on my RV, and I too have had the engine quit on rollout at 6K + DA (4200 field elevation) when I was full rich. I should have leaned a bit on final, or at least as soon as I was rolling out.

      We did adjust the idle mixture a bit so we'll see how it does now.

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    2. You did what at 6k+ DA? Full rich?
      I trained in Southern Arizona in various 172s at about 2600ft field elevation and we were drilled to always lean/adjust before takeoff, during climb, descent and after leaving RWY, winter, summer, it doesn't matter, at lower DAs. Full rich was never a setting, even after adding a bit again after peak RPM before takeoff in the winter. Of course the POH is the ultimate guidance.
      Man, I will look forward to the day I no longer have to adjust the mixture in prehistoric plane and engine designs - what do you think your car's engine does automatically?

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    3. If the airplane has more than one control for the engine(s) (say a jet), don't fly it.

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  12. There has been a downward trend of quality coming from Continental engines.

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    1. Welcome to aviation. The more you pay $$$ the more the limited numbers and quality can be sketchy.

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    2. China, China...

      The Chinese government-owned AVIC International bought Continental Motors in 2011, followed by the purchase of Minnesota-based aerospace manufacturer Cirrus Aircraft two months later.

      Dog goes "woof"
      Cat goes "meow"
      Bird goes "tweet"
      And Cirrus goes "chai-nah"

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  13. vans RV10 with 260 lycoming is a far better plane than cirrus will ever be

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    1. Um yeah an experimental plane you have to figure out how to throw together yourself and hope you didn't make a mistake is "far better" than a finely engineering masterpiece put together by expert craftsman? Keeping drinking that Vans koolaid, homie.

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    2. I have worked on Vans and Cirrus aircraft. I sure prefer- and trust- the simplicity of the former. And the metal construction. And the typical Lycoming powerplants. The experimental status of the Vans is a legal issue, not one of construction techniques.
      It does mean that you may find one that isn't the best example. So it's up to you to know enough to find a good one, or make it yourself. If you can't do either, then stay away. They make new sr22s for you.

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    3. I'd rather go down in an aluminum airplane than a composite. Aluminum bends and distorts absorbing energy. Composites, not so much.

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  14. I owned an RV-10, Yes a very good and simple plane....Plus the maint. is 1/10th of a Cirrus...I just lost interest in GA flying...

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    1. RV-10's constructed under the aegis of a professional aircraft completion center are the HBs Porsche, w/ the TMX IO540 260 hp engine that returns 174 KTAS / 15 GPH, full NG glass panel, extra fuel reserves of 90 gallons (standard RV-10 is 60), fully adj front seats, spacious rear seats, and so much more of what manufacturers wish they could produce.

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  15. Cirrus SR22 is nothing for me. I prefer a R182 thats the best way to travel in this class. I want to land my plane without chute if anything goes wrong ! But sad for the loss, very sad. Hope you guy are in heaven and it´s really nice there.

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  16. He meant "The good lord is good at killing his flock".

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  17. Prelim report is out - sure raises a lot of questions. Seems the engine quit during the approach, but not clear why. Had fuel, filters clean, but fuel flow went to zero. Very strange! CEN22FA405 https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/105849/pdf

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