In the report I linked witnesses saw the chute deploy while in the air.
When a plane crashed in the US, it becomes, by law, a federal crime scene. All wreckage and data become part of the investigation. Substantial damage or serious injuries require an investigation by the NTSB. (Less serious accidents may be investigated by the FAA using pilot interviews and self-reported data.)
When the NTSB launches an investigation, several parties are added to the investigation team, typically the aircraft manufacturer and the engine manufacturer, but occasionally other parties may become involved as circumstances warrant. For instance, the supplier of the parachute, BRS Aerospace, was involved in many early Cirrus investigations, as has Amsafe, the supplier of airbags.
Cirrus Aircraft maintains an active accident investigation team, their Air Safety group, that operates independently and reports separately in the company from the engineering, manufacturing and sales or marketing departments. They have access to all those resources, but have separate objectives to understand what happened in the accident sequence.
One valuable resource for investigators of Cirrus aircraft accidents in the large amount of recorded flight data. Avidyne Entegra models retain engine, navigation and flight attitude data in both the PFD and MFD. Perspective models retain some data in the PFD and MFD, but importantly a comprehensive set of data are recored in a data capture device located in the tail, the Remote Data Module. These data sets become part of the accident investigation and are analyzed by the NTSB Vehicle Recorder Lab. Several accident investigations have revealed surprising results from those analyses that clearly indicate what the pilot was facing as the accident sequence unfolded.
So, if a Cirrus does down, then an investigation is started. And Cirrus accident investigators are called in for most US and many foreign investigations.
COPA maintains a good and discrete working relationship with the Cirrus Air Safety team. All of the investigation parties are bound by non-disclosure until the factual report is approved and released by the NTSB. So, the Cirrus folks are unable to share details until after the completion of the investigation.
For this Carrollton accident, it is highly likely that very good data will be recovered to show exactly when the CAPS handle was activated, what decelerations were recorded and how the flight dynamics happened. Physical investigation will determine the status of the parachute canopy and risers, from which their tell-tale signatures reveal if the canopy was fully inflated or damaged.
Oh, by the way, witness statements are often inconsistent with the recorded data. Reports of engine noise, sputtering, cut-out, often do not show in the data. In this case, the parachute activation involves 90' risers so a post-impact deployment may be observed as if the plane was still in the air yet was actually already on the ground. Don't know details, but do know that witness statements need corroboration.
Wish the outcome were different.
