Within the next 14 days, the NTSB is expected to publish a preliminary report on last week’s midair collision of a Cirrus SR22 piston single and a Swearingen Metroliner twin turboprop. No one was injured when the Metroliner, operated by Key Lime Air, and a Cirrus SR22, rented from Independence Aviation, collided in VMC over a reservoir as they were on approach to Denver Centennial Airport at about 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
The Metroliner—which had part of its upper rear fuselage sheared off in the collision—was able to complete an emergency landing, while the pilot of the SR22 deployed its emergency parachute, which slowed the aircraft’s descent before it crash landed in a field. NTSB investigators have interviewed the pilots and listened to recordings from ATC. Interviews with the controllers working the aircraft are planned.
Both airplanes were operating under Part 91. The Cirrus, with a pilot and passenger, was on a local flight from Centennial, and the Metroliner, with the sole pilot aboard, was a cargo carrier repositioning from Salida, Colorado.
“We are working to understand how and why these planes collided,” said NTSB senior air safety investigator John Brannen. “It is so fortunate that no one was injured in this collision.”