Aircraft down in Chicago suburbs

Flight aware says it was a Cirrus, ATC audio says it was a Cirrus, and it's been officially announced it was a Cirrus.

This sucks... 2nd crash in 2 years in that same region. 2 years ago a Cherokee 6 did a tailwind takeoff and landed into the top floor of an X-Sport Fitness, and another Cirrus entered IMC without an instrument rating, and ended up killing himself, his wife, daughter, and her boyfriend. Now, this...
Wasn't the Cherokee landing or taking off out of Naper?
 
Flight aware says it was a Cirrus, ATC audio says it was a Cirrus, and it's been officially announced it was a Cirrus.

This sucks... 2nd crash in 2 years in that same region. 2 years ago a Cherokee 6 did a tailwind takeoff and landed into the top floor of an X-Sport Fitness, and another Cirrus entered IMC without an instrument rating, and ended up killing himself, his wife, daughter, and her boyfriend. Now, this...

Intentionally entered IMC? If so, what a POS.
 
Do Cirrus' have a habit of going up in flames? More so than other similarly-size aircraft? I read, "burn victim" and immediately thought of that video of the SR22 burning up after parachuting into a parking lot.
 
Do Cirrus' have a habit of going up in flames? More so than other similarly-size aircraft? I read, "burn victim" and immediately thought of that video of the SR22 burning up after parachuting into a parking lot.
Depends on how much fuel you have in the tanks...could happen to any airplane I guess.
 
Do Cirrus' have a habit of going up in flames? More so than other similarly-size aircraft? I read, "burn victim" and immediately thought of that video of the SR22 burning up after parachuting into a parking lot.
Depends on how much fuel you have in the tanks...could happen to any airplane I guess.

An un-scientific study on my part says yes, Cirri do go up in flames after a off airport impact. There's a AME over on the AOPA forums who holds the same opinion, and like myself, believe its due to the lack of any real structure for the fuel tanks. No integral tank to protect the fuel when those wings shatter.
 
There is a video on YouTube of the pilot walking away from the wreckage and falling down, and getting back up again. Super sad. He died early this morning from his injuries.
 
Do Cirrus' have a habit of going up in flames? More so than other similarly-size aircraft? I read, "burn victim" and immediately thought of that video of the SR22 burning up after parachuting into a parking lot.

Only when knuckleheads crash 'em. Cirrus is the new forked-tail doctor killer. Shiny, shiny.
The NTSB is considering adding a new field for Cirrus in its accident report template: Witness Report. It will have a pull-down menu of standard witness reports, the first of which will be: "The airplane seemed to shudder. Then it rolled over real fast and the nose went straight down."


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That's terrible...good thing those cars were unoccupied or it could have been even worse. My worst fears aren't really crashing, but taking people on the ground with me. RIP.
 
With this talk of the dangers of Cirrus airplanes what do you guys think when comparing Diamond aircraft to Cirrus. They seem to be somewhat similar regarding looks and design. I'm very new to this and have not flown either. However, the school I will be attending have a good number of Diamond's. Does anybody have a good or bad opinion of Diamond's?
 
Wasn't the Cherokee landing or taking off out of Naper?
It was, that's why I said same region. They're what... less than 10NM away from each other? That dude took off with a tailwind, and SHIZAM! Right into X-Sport. I joke because nobody was injured, and nobody died in that case.
 
Intentionally entered IMC? If so, what a POS.
Yeah man, he tried blaming our flight school on the ATC radio for his lack of IMC skills, when in reality all he did was take a weekend written test class, that funny enough, I, and 1 other instructor taught that weekend. I knew the guy, and he would do anything to sell a pilot of to an old lady if you catch my drift... He flew into IMC, admitted he wasn't instrument rated, and down he went, in an Avidyne equipped plane well beyond capable of IMC flight. True what they say... the plane you fly is only as good as the person flying it.
 
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With this talk of the dangers of Cirrus airplanes what do you guys think when comparing Diamond aircraft to Cirrus. They seem to be somewhat similar regarding looks and design. I'm very new to this and have not flown either. However, the school I will be attending have a good number of Diamond's. Does anybody have a good or bad opinion of Diamond's?

Cirrus and Diamond are similar inasmuch as a pomegranate is similar to an apple. Yup, both fruits. Both usually red.
Diamonds are one of the safest, most forgiving trainers around. Cirrus are not. It's not that Cirri are bad aircraft, per se. I think it's more where they started from, what their goals were, and therefore, who ended up flying them.
Among the two planes' differences is that diamonds were built to be aerodynamically safe. "Pilot-proof" if you will. They relied on good, ol' fashioned aerodynamic design to create an aircraft that is, for instance, very recoverable from a spin. Cirrus either could not or would not design an aircraft that is spin-recoverable. That's why they were forced to add the parachute. I'll hand it to Cirrus in the Machiavellian Marketing Department; They would do great on Wall Street. They deftly took a major flaw and turned it into a major sales coupe for those ignorant enough to be beguiled by that sort of technique.
For a skilled, proficient pilot, who likes to travel with a couple bags and land at airports with Signatures or Atlantics, a Cirrus is not a bad aircraft. For a new, low-time, or low-proficiency pilot, well, the accident record shouts more loudly than I can.

Strikes me that Diamond looked at composites and said, "Hey, we can build an aircraft that's really strong, really efficient, and really safe."
Cirrus seemed to look at composites and say, "Hey, we can build an aircraft that looks like a BMW."

Design and performance differences aside, the biggest problem with Cirrus is the same one that plagues the BMW upon which they were designed. It ain't the plane.

What's the difference between a Cirrus and Porcupine?
Will Cirrus continue to sell? Did millions of Americans buy houses they couldn't afford to impress friends they didn't like? Shiny, baby. Shiny.
 
Here is a video surveillance video from the parking lot the airplane crashed in.

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Nice find (the verb, not the noun). Hard to watch, but after watching that, I am astounded that the pilot was able to get out and walk around (if even for only a little while). Must have been something like Gus in the "Face Off" episode of Breaking Bad.
 
Here is a video surveillance video from the parking lot the airplane crashed in.

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That isn't from yesterday's incident in Chicago. That clip has been around for at least a year.
 
That isn't from yesterday's incident in Chicago. That clip has been around for at least a year.

So what you're saying is Cirri and Parking Lots might be like Tornadoes and Trailer Parks? :)
 
Among the two planes' differences is that diamonds were built to be aerodynamically safe. "Pilot-proof" if you will. They relied on good, ol' fashioned aerodynamic design to create an aircraft that is, for instance, very recoverable from a spin. Cirrus either could not or would not design an aircraft that is spin-recoverable. That's why they were forced to add the parachute. I'll hand it to Cirrus in the Machiavellian Marketing Department; They would do great on Wall Street. They deftly took a major flaw and turned it into a major sales coupe for those ignorant enough to be beguiled by that sort of technique.
For a skilled, proficient pilot, who likes to travel with a couple bags and land at airports with Signatures or Atlantics, a Cirrus is not a bad aircraft. For a new, low-time, or low-proficiency pilot, well, the accident record shouts more loudly than I can.

The biggest difference in a Cirrus and Diamond, IMO, is the fuel tank design. Wet composite wing on a Cirrus versus a tank contained between spars on the Diamond. I know which one burns more.
 
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