NTSB Releases Final Report on Colorado Midair

Excessive speed and lack of communication were to blame in the 2021 midair collision, according to NTSB.

Meg Godlewski

Thursday, April 06, 2023 at 01:00 PM ET

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The Swearingen Metroliner after the accident. [Credit NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The NTSB attributed a 2021 mid-air collision between a Cirrus SR22 and a Swearingen Metroliner to both pilot error and a failure by air traffic control to communicate, resulting in no fatalities.
Pilot error involved the Cirrus pilot flying at excessive speeds during the approach, causing them to overshoot their turn and collide with the Metroliner on an adjacent parallel runway.
Air traffic control for the Metroliner contributed by failing to issue a mandatory traffic advisory regarding the converging Cirrus, which is required by FAA procedures for simultaneous parallel runway operations.

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Accident investigators cite pilot error and a failure to communicate by air traffic control as causal factors in the midair collision between a Cirrus SR22 and a Swearingen Metroliner near Centennial Airport (KAPA) in May of 2021. There were no fatalities as a result of the collision.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), both aircraft were on approach to parallel runways that were controlled by different controllers on different control tower frequencies at the time of the accident.