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Cirrus vision jet pilot reported a CFIT alert from ATC due to starting descent too soon in the high terrain area.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1636964 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201904 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cirrus Vision SJ50 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Approach |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 24 Flight Crew Total 782 Flight Crew Type 142 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Inflight Event / Encounter CFTT / CFIT |
| Miss Distance | Vertical 900 |
Narrative:
Upon descending over the last mountainous area while lining up for a runway 26 landing at ZZZ; my descent rate was high relative to my distance from the ground causing a sink rate alert and a pull up alert in the aircraft. At the same time; ATC gave me a low altitude alert and said I was below MDA for the area. I had been cleared down to 9200 feet and then cleared for the visual approach into ZZZ prior to being handed off to tower. I believe it was ZZZ tower that gave me the low altitude alert. The approach to final required that I lose a lot of altitude quickly. But I came down a bit too soon relative to the terrain. I was already disengaging the autopilot; applying max thrust and pulling up as ATC gave the low altitude alert.the cause of the problem was the need to lose a lot of altitude in a short distance. I had good visibility and visually I felt I was not at risk. However; I clearly got too low if ATC needed to give me the alert. I appreciated the help from ATC to keep me higher longer. I should have completely cleared the mountain before beginning a quick descent. I failed to take into account the potential for a sudden loss of altitude due to potential mountain waves.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Cirrus Vision Jet pilot reported a CFIT alert from ATC due to starting descent too soon in the high terrain area.
Narrative: Upon descending over the last mountainous area while lining up for a Runway 26 landing at ZZZ; my descent rate was high relative to my distance from the ground causing a SINK RATE alert and a PULL UP alert in the aircraft. At the same time; ATC gave me a low altitude alert and said I was below MDA for the area. I had been cleared down to 9200 feet and then cleared for the visual approach into ZZZ prior to being handed off to tower. I believe it was ZZZ tower that gave me the Low Altitude alert. The approach to final required that I lose a lot of altitude quickly. But I came down a bit too soon relative to the terrain. I was already disengaging the autopilot; applying max thrust and pulling up as ATC gave the low altitude alert.The cause of the problem was the need to lose a lot of altitude in a short distance. I had good visibility and visually I felt I was not at risk. However; I clearly got too low if ATC needed to give me the alert. I appreciated the help from ATC to keep me higher longer. I should have completely cleared the mountain before beginning a quick descent. I failed to take into account the potential for a sudden loss of altitude due to potential mountain waves.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.