By David Kaminski-Morrow2021-05-20T13:54:00+01:00
Investigators probing the mid-air collision involving a Fairchild Metroliner and a Cirrus SR22 over Colorado are trying to establish why the Cirrus apparently overshot its final approach path after each aircraft was cleared to land on separate – but closely-spaced – parallel runways.
Separate tower controllers at Centennial airport appear to have been managing the approach patterns to runways 17R and 17L, which are spaced just 700ft apart, before the 12 May accident.
Air-ground communications show the Key Lime Air Metroliner, arriving from Salida, had been inbound to 17L while several light aircraft, including the Cirrus, were in the pattern for 17R.
Hundreds saved by parachutes on planes
BRS Aerospace said its parachute system saved two people onboard a Cirrus plane involved in a mid-air collision Wednesday morning. Author: Noel Brennan Updated: 5:16 PM MDT May 13, 2021
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. In the moments after two small planes crashed in mid-air over Cherry Creek State Park Wednesday, the pilot inside a single-engine Cirrus SR22 pulled a handle that fired a rocket to deploy a large parachute.
Cellphone video captured from the park showed the small plane floating to the ground where it came to rest in the grass beside a trail.
The pilot of the other plane, a Key Lime Air Metroliner, landed at Centennial Airport despite missing a large chunk of the fuselage. Two people inside the Cirrus also walked away without any injuries.
Miracle In the Sky
It could have been so much worse. Miraculously, no one was injured Wednesday when two small planes, preparing for landing, collided in mid-air near Denver. Both planes sustained significant damage, however, the larger plane was able to land at Centennial airport while one deployed a parachute and floated safely to the ground.
It s Not New Technology
According to 9 News, the Cirrus SR22 involved in the collision was equipped with a BRS Aerospace parachute, a standard feature of Cirrus models. The technology is actually not new and has saved the lives of 443 people through the years. More than 37,000 planes have been equipped with parachutes. However, this parachute landing was reportedly the first one experienced by local first responders.
One of two planes that collided in the air near Denver deployed a parachute and slowly drifted to the ground, where two people walked away from the aircraft, a sheriff's office spokesman said Wednesday.