WASHINGTON (May 13, 2021) — National Transportation Safety Board investigators continue Thursday to gather information about Wednesday’s mid-air collision involving a Cirrus SR-22 airplane and a Swearingen Metroliner airplane near Centennial Airport, Denver.
No one was injured when the Swearingen Metroliner, operated by Key Lime Air, and a Cirrus SR-22 rented, from Independence Aviation, collided as the planes were landing at Centennial Airport.
The NTSB Investigator-in-Charge for this accident has interviewed both pilots, and an NTSB air traffic control specialist has listened to recordings from air traffic control. Interviews of the controllers working with the Cirrus and Metroliner pilots are planned.
An NTSB investigator examined the wrecked Cirrus Wednesday and will examine the Metroliner Thursday. The insurer of the Cirrus arranged for removal and transport of the plane to Centennial Airport and the Metroliner is at a Key Lime Air facility at Centennial Airport.
Both aircraft were operating under Part 91 general aviation rules. The Cirrus was on a local flight from Centennial and the Metroliner was repositioning from Salida, Colorado.
The NTSB’s investigation of the mid-air collision will, in general terms, look at the people involved in the accident, the airplanes involved in the accident and the environment in which the accident happened. There are currently four NTSB investigators working on this accident investigation.
“We are working to understand how and why these planes collided,” said John Brannen, a Senior Air Safety Investigator from the NTSB’s Central Region office and the Investigator-in-Charge for the accident investigation. “It is so fortunate that no one was injured in this collision.”
A preliminary report will publish in the next 14 days and the investigation is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
To report an incident/accident or if you are a public safety agency, please call 1-844-373-9922 or 202-314-6290 to speak to a Watch Officer at the NTSB Response Operations Center (ROC) in Washington, DC (24/7).
