THE DTSB
The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the pilot did enter flight well below DMMS speed, whereupon he eventually stalled the wing and the aircraft descended nearly vertically to the ground and impacted 3.9 nm from the approach end of runway 03 at KTTA. There was no fire and no survivors. The cash site is located .3 nm east of the extended centerline of runway 03 at KTTA. The aircraft departed from Florida and the pilot communicated with Jacksonville center after departure. The pilot made numerous claims to ATC of communication, transponder, and electrical system failures. Since ARTCC ASR surveillance radar does detect and correlate primary returns from non-cooperative aircraft and can generate tracks and ground speeds, it is important to note that when the reporting source transitioned to primary target data from ARTCC, the altitude became fixed at 11,700’ and maintained this indicated altitude all the way to the impact site. This is due to ARTCC lacking actual altitude data from the primary returns, and the manually assigned last electronically -reported altitude of 11,700 feet. The pilot complained of numerous electrical, navigation and transponder problems almost immediately after takeoff, and yet the aircraft provided solid ADSb and mode C data until level off at 11,700 feet. This could be an indication that the pilot manually disabled the transponder for unknown reasons, or that this was the point that it ceased to operate. The pilot had become a Private Pilot just 18 months before the accident, and had learned to fly just months prior to that. The CAPS parachute pin had not been removed before the flight, and there is no record of the accident pilot ever receiving any formal Cirrus specific training in the aircraft. The left fuel tank was found unbreeched and empty, while the right tank was breeched and did contain some minimal amount of fuel. The pilots wife called the FBO at KTTA just minutes before the accident, complaining of communications and navigation problems, and engine problems. She was asking for wind and and runway information. The aircraft was seen circling just south of the airport in a descending left turn just prior to the accident. The probable Cause of this accident is an entire amazing series of very bad decisions, constituting careless and reckless behavior, extremely poor airmanship, and a pilot who could afford far more aircraft than he was qualified to operate.