At first glance, this week’s crash of Cirrus N89423 at Truckee looks like yet another “high density altitude” accident.  Such accidents are, after all, perhaps the most common type of accident at Truckee airport.  Due to the thin air, the aircraft cannot climb fast enough to clear rising terrain or to maintain altitude

The Minnesota Supreme Court has now spoken, bringing to an end the litigation against Cirrus for its alleged failure to train pilot Gary Prokop.

Prokop flew his new Cirrus SR22 into conditions of poor visibility and crashed, killing himself and his passenger.  The passenger’s family sued Cirrus, as will as Prokop’s estate, claiming that Cirrus

Some say that Cirrus aircraft are improperly designed because they tend to catch fire on impact more frequently than other aircraft, such as those manufactured by Cirrus competitors, like Diamond or Cessna. And there are plenty of examples of post-crash Cirrus fires to talk about. Critics argue that those fires prove that the aircraft is unduly dangerous

A pilot crashed his new Cirrus, killing himself and his passenger. According to the families, Cirrus didn’t train the pilot on the use of the plane’s autopilot when he showed up at the factory to pick up his new aircraft, and that contributed to the crash. The details are here.

The jury agreed with the

A pilot flew his new Cirrus into conditions of poor visibility and crashed, killing himself and his passenger.  The passenger’s family sued not just the pilot, but Cirrus as well. 

Why sue Cirrus?  According to the family, Cirrus didn’t train the pilot properly when he showed up at the factory to pick up his new plane, and