Out of focus

It was a 2001 model and had the initial configuration of steam gauges on the left side of the panel and an Avidyne multifunction display (MFD) on the right, which made the transition from traditional instruments to glass rather easy.

Another feature of the Cirrus that I enjoyed was the electric trim, conveniently located at the top of both pilot and co-pilot joysticks. Little did I know that this great feature would almost cause a freak accident years later.

In 2008 a friend of mine, a private pilot who had always flown a high-wing Cessna, asked me for a ride in my composite aircraft with modern avionics; he was thinking about purchasing a similar model and making the switch to a glass cockpit. I happily agreed.

The aircraft was parked at the ramp of the Boca Raton Airport (BCT) and when my friend arrived at 8:30 a.m. it was already hot and humid, a typical day in August in South Florida. I wanted to make the flight early in the morning to avoid the inevitable afternoon thunderstorms. My friend brought his iPad loaded with ForeFlight and a suction cup mount to place it on his side of the windshield. He asked me if it was OK, and I said yes.

The location of his iPad on the windshield allowed me to have a complete view of the front over the nose of the aircraft and only obscured a small portion of the horizon to my right. The temporary setup looked solid, so I did not think about it again.

As soon as we were aligned, I pressed the joystick to the right, and nothing happened! The aircraft kept turning left as we descended and there was nothing I could do.We took off from Runway 5 and immediately requested a VFR to the northwest with a heading of 330 degrees and an altitude of 4,500 feet, which we comfortably reached in a few minutes. The flight was uneventful, and we spent some time over the Everglades National Park testing the capabilities of the SR20 through steep turns and slow flight. I gave my friend control of the aircraft for some time so he could compare the performance with his airplane. He relied a lot on the iPad and repeatedly had to adjust the height of the device over the joystick, because it kept lowering because of a lack of grip on the main tightening clamp.

I warned him that he was spending too much time tinkering with his electronic gadget and not paying attention to the aircraft. On two occasions he was close to a stall, and I had to constantly remind him to fly the aircraft. After an hour I called Boca Tower and notified we were returning to the field from the northwest and were told to fly straight into the left base for Runway 5.

I began my slow descent as I explained to my friend the correct configuration for landing. The Cirrus has little drag and therefore it tends to float over the runway if it is not configured correctly and the landing speed is too fast.

As we reached the beginning of left base, 900 feet agl, I configured the aircraft with 10 degrees of flaps and lights on while preparing my turn to final continuing my descent. It was then that we were hit with strong turbulence from the mid-day heat emanating from the ground. We both smiled, having experienced the same phenomenon hundreds of times before and thankful for having no passengers on board.

I pushed the joystick gently to the left and the Cirrus began a turn to intercept the heading of 050 degrees of the runway. As soon as we were aligned, I pressed the joystick to the right, and nothing happened! The aircraft kept turning left as we descended and there was nothing I could do. I turned to my friend and yelled, “Help me with the joystick!” but when I looked in his direction, I noticed that one of the suction cups holding the iPad had separated from the windshield and the large electronic device was resting on the right joystick.

Not only was the iPad pressing the electric trim, but it was also preventing me from moving the controls to the right. It was firmly anchored between the trim button and the window. I shouted again, “It’s the iPad!” He looked puzzled but promptly removed the gadget with both hands and I regained control of the aircraft. At this point we were barely two miles from the runway and at 350 feet, so I stabilized the approach, climbed 50 feet, and saw two reds and two whites on the PAPI, adding full flaps and landing without further issues.

As soon as we exited the runway we were cleared to the ramp where I turned off the engine and had our debrief. I told him about the time he spent on the iPad and the need to focus on flying the aircraft and then we talked about the temporary setup for his iPad. We both agreed it was not a great location for the device.

This incident taught me a valuable lesson: Never allow a passenger to install anything, even if it is temporarily, in my cockpit and demand fellow pilots in my airplane focus on flying the aircraft.

Juan B. Plaza is a commercial pilot and consultant who specializes in aviation issues related to aerial photography for mapping and cartography.