NTSB Factual Report

On June 11, 2017, about 1200 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus SR22, N592BC, was substantially damaged when it impacted a power pole, trees, and terrain while on approach to Bartow Municipal Airport (BOW), Bartow, Florida. The private pilot, who was also the owner of the airplane, was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight which departed Gainesville Regional Airport (GNV) about 1120. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

The pilot was not immediately available due to his injuries, but was later interviewed by a police detective. During that interview, the pilot stated that he had "disoriented" himself by holding the airport diagram "upside down" as the airplane approached BOW. Once oriented, he turned the airplane on to the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, noticed he was "high" and disconnected the autopilot. During the final approach, the airplane was descending "rapidly" and the pilot added power to complete the landing, but "nothing happened" as he "hadn't reset [the] mixture." According to the pilot, he lacked the time and the altitude to "remedy the problem."

In a telephone interview, an air traffic controller stated that the accident airplane contacted the tower north of BOW and was instructed to report entering a left base for landing on runway 9L. Instead, the pilot reported the airplane was on a left downwind for runway 9L and was cleared to land. There were no further communications from the pilot. The final radar target was recorded about 1 mile from the threshold of runway 9L at 700 feet and 130 knots groundspeed. The airplane came to rest in a church yard about 1/2 mile from the threshold of runway 9L.

On-scene examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed substantial impact damage to the entire airframe, but no fire damage. There was evidence of fuel, and control continuity was established from the cockpit to the flight control surfaces. Initial visual examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies. The engine was forwarded to the manufacturer for a detailed examination. Flight and multifunction displays, as well as components from the autopilot system were retained for examination in the NTSB recorders laboratory.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent FAA third class medical certificate was issued on March 9, 2011. The pilot reported 750 total hours of flight experience on that date.

The four-seat, low-wing, tricycle-gear airplane was manufactured in 2005 and was powered by a Continental IO-550, 310-horsepower engine. The airplane's hobbs meter displayed 2101.6 aircraft hours. The maintenance records were not reviewed, and the maintenance history could not be verified. The aircraft recovery company in possession of the airplane requested the maintenance records from the owner. He reported that the records were "in a storage facility" and that he could not access them due to his injuries. A copy of the most recent annual inspection forwarded by the pilot's attorney revealed the inspection was completed October 28, 2016 at 2065.3 total aircraft hours.

At 1545, weather reported at BOW included a broken ceiling at 3,000 ft, wind from 050° at 4 knots, and 10 statute miles of visibility. The temperature was 27° C, the dew point was 21° C, and the altimeter setting was 30.15 inches of mercury.

The engine was removed from the airframe and placed in a test cell at the engine manufacturer's facility in Mobile, Alabama. The engine started immediately, accelerated smoothly, and ran continuously at all power settings with no anomalies noted.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's failure to properly configure the mixture control for landing due to disorientation because he had the airport diagram upside down, which resulted in a total loss of engine power.