Son Heroically Deploys Chute When Pilot Incapacitated

Startling and dramatic stories are emerging from friends of a pilot who ultimately lost his life when a midair medical emergency rendered him incapable of flying his SR22-GTS (pictured below).

According to a number of sources within the Cirrus Pilot community, as well as friends of the Edesess family, Dr. Robert Edesess -- who recently took delivery of his second Cirrus (within the last week or so according to one of the Doctor's friends), the Doctor's family was saved when Edesess son, Jeremy, deployed the BRS emergency "CAPS" system when Doctor Edesess suffered what has been described as a possible "stroke or aneurysm."

As noted in ANN's coverage of the accident (which started less than an hour after the accident, thanks AGAIN to many welcome News-Spy reports to ANN HQ), SR22-GTS (file photo, above) N91MB went down shortly after takeoff from Eagle Creek Airport on the NW side of Indianapolis, IN, shortly before 1100 local time. Reports indicate that the aircraft attempted a return to the airport shortly after departure and that the maximum altitude attained was 'not very high.' Witness reports (which must ALWAYS be taken with a grain of salt) note that the parachute deployment occurred at a fairly low altitude and may have not even been fully complete at the point of impact in a shallow retention pond.

The tragedy of this story is that Doctor Edesess (pictured, right)  succumbed to the medical issues that plagued him early in the flight -- though the upside, of course, is that he selected an aircraft that gave his son the chance to save the rest of his family.

Bruce Kehoe, an Indianapolis attorney and apartner in the aircraft, has confirmed to local media that Edesess had been 'incapacitated by a stroke or similar medical problem while flying the plane.' Keho noted that, "I guess the fortunate thing is that Bob had instructed his family on the ballistic parachute procedure." Kehoe also added that Edesess had selected the Cirrus SR22, in part, because of the BRS system and other safety features inherent in the design.

The SR22-GTS parachute deployment into an Indiana pond off the end of Eagle Creek Airport still resulted in injuries to Edesess' wife, Pouliri Edesess, who is listed in fair condition. Edesess' son Jeremy is listed in serious but stable condition, while his girlfriend, Janet Adams, is reported to also be in serious but stable condition.

If all the reports turn out to be accurate, this will the second time that a BRS parachute recovery system has been used to save an aircraft as the result of an apparent pilot incapacitation... and the first time that it has saved the life of someone other than the pilot. With these three saves, various versions of the BRS parachute recovery system have now been credited with saving nearly 200 lives worldwide. More info to follow...

FMI: www.cirrusdesign.com, www.brsparachutes.com