5 December 2006
A Cirrus SR22 crash near Charlotte, North Carolina has claimed the life of its pilot.
The crash took place last Thursday evening. There was a fire on impact. An initial NTSB report suggests that the ballistic parachute and its rocket were found separated from the aircraft, most likely during the impact. It’s not certain whether the pilot had attempted to activate it. The aircraft was on approach to 18R at Charlotte/Douglas airport when it apparently turned sharply north and descended rapidly.
The pilot has been named as George Vrana, who was a partner with accounting firm Ernst and Young. The aircraft was part of the (very large) AirShares Elite fractional programme, which runs 50 Cirrus aircraft shared among 240 pilots; this was the first serious accident which the programme has suffered.
