A Cirrus SR22 came down under its whole-airplane parachute just offshore in The Solent, which is the strait that runs between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight in the south of the country.
While the condition of the two occupants wasn’t immediately known, Plane & Pilot has learned that both people were able to escape from the plane, were rescued and needed no medical attention.
The video shows the aircraft at rest, its chute still fully inflated and a police officer trying to keep observers away from the plane.
The footage shows the plane inverted, which isn’t the intended attitude. It’s not known why it came to rest inverted, but it’s possible that it happened as the parachute towed it through the water to shore. Thank goodness it was an onshore breeze, and the plane was dragged toward and not away from the shore. The shoreline of the Isle of Wight in the photographs appears to be at least a few miles away.
It’s also interesting to note that the Solent is a hotspot for kite boarding, which is like surfing, but using a kite in essence as a sail.
It looked to be heavily damaged, though,again, it’s not known how much of that damage came from the touchdown and how much came from the forces of it being dragged to shore by the chute, possibly over the strait’s bottom.
The Cirrus SR22 is a four-/five-seat aircraft that features a whole-airplane recovery parachute system. Its use has resulted in more than 100 “saves,” events in which the chute was deployed and the occupants survived the touchdown, often with no significant injuries.
We’ll update the story as more information emerges.
