And if so, why didn’t it work?

Gotta be one of the first things the NTSB will investigate at the scene of Skipper Beck’s fatal plane crash in Rock Hill. The single-engine plane Beck was flying was equipped with a rocket-boosted parachute as an added safety measure.

Cirrus, the plane’s manufacturer, claims on its Web site that the parachute system has saved many lives:

Over twenty people have been rescued in 12 uses from situations including in-flight incapacitation, spatial disorientation, careless maintenance, and other loss of control incidents.

One picture of the crash scene does appear to show a red and white parachute attached to one piece of the wreckage, but investigators will obviously know better what happened. Eye-witnesses report that the plane was almost immediately in trouble after takeoff and was not flying level before the crash. That may have rendered the chute system useless in this incident.

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