Federal agency releases initial report on small plane crash that killed Nathan Finney
The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Nathan Finney was in the cockpit of his single-engine Cirrus SR22T. Flight instructor Warren Bruhl was teaching the Bloomington restaurateur how to fly the plane Finney had owned just 10 days.
With temperatures in the mid 40s, clear skies and 10-mph winds, it was a beautiful day for flying. After practicing touch-and-go landings at the Monroe County Airport, the plane headed northeast toward Shelbyville Municipal Airport, a 48-mile flight.
About three miles from its destination, the plane lost altitude, turned sideways twice, plummeted straight down into a cornfield and crashed, bursting into flames.
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board says a special safety parachute featured on the Cirrus SR22T wasn't deployed before the fatal crash.
A 40-minute flight
On Wednesday, Nov. 22, the plane departed and landed several times at the Monroe County Airport, then took off at 4:05 p.m. toward the Shelbyville airport. It was last seen on radar there at 4:46 p.m.
The NTSB preliminary report combines a witness account and evidence recovered from the crash site in an initial review.
According to the report, a woman driving east on Interstate 74 near Fairland saw a small airplane to her left flying southbound over a field.
She noticed the airplane was very low, about 200 feet above ground level, and appeared to be stalled or hovering. It then took a sharp turn to the east and “seemed to lose all control” and was fully sideways with the wings vertical to the ground, first left and then right.
“The witness thought that the airplane rotated to the left one more time and then leveled out extremely low to the ground,” the report said. It then descended behind a tree line.
“A second or two after disappearing behind the trees, the witness saw a fireball and thick black smoke.”
Parachute not deployed
The witness said no parts came off the plane during its fast descent. “And there was no deployment of the rocket from the airplane’s parachute system before the airplane’s impact with the ground,” the report said.
The Cirrus SR22 Turbo plane is equipped with a special safety feature called the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, or CAPS, which the manufacturer calls “the ultimate backup.” A red handle above the pilot’s head shoots out a parachute when pulled. In many circumstances, the plane then coasts to the ground instead of crashing.
“With a simple pull of the red T-handle, the rocket-propelled parachute system deploys and lowers the entire airplane back to the ground,” Cirrus material about the system states.
An examination of the plane after the accident showed it was destroyed by impact and fire. The Cirrus crashed nose first into a cornfield, the report said.
A final report may not be completed for several months.
Finney was president and founder of Finney Hospitality Group, which owns The Tap, Tap Brewery, Yogi's, SmokeWorks and Social Cantina in downtown Bloomington. Social Cantina also has locations in Indianapolis, Carmel, West Lafayette and Mishawaka.
Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Report details plane crash that killed Bloomington restaurateur
