flight-training version with a simplified, more durable interior, IO-390 engine, Perspective+ flight deck, rear seat push-to-talk functionality, and simulated landing gear controls. Operators Civil The SR20 is popular with many flying schools and is operated by private individuals and companies. The largest operators are Civil Aviation Flight University of China with 40 aircraft, Aerosim Flight Academy with 34, Western Michigan University with 29, Lufthansa Flight Training and United Aviate Academy both with 25, and Purdue University with 16. Military French Air Force and French Navy Academies (operated by Cassidian) – 23 aircraft (mixed fleet of 16 SR20s and 7 SR22s) United States Air Force Academy – 25 T-53A aircraft (version of SR20) Accidents and incidents Between 1999 and September 2022, the SR20 was involved in 40 known fatal accidents. Listed below are some of the most notable ones. On March 23, 1999, Duluth native Scott D. Anderson was killed in a plane crash while flight-testing the first production model SR20 before it went on sale. Anderson was a pilot, author, engineer, and adventurer who served as chief test pilot at Cirrus in the mid- to late 1990s, performing all the in-flight test deployments of the CAPS. His plane, which had not yet been equipped with CAPS, experienced an aileron jam during experimental stress-testing and went down in a field near the Duluth International Airport. Anderson was inducted into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2010. On October 11, 2006, New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and certified flight instructor Tyler Stanger were killed in the 2006 New York City plane crash when their SR20 crashed into the Belaire Apartments located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The aircraft struck the north side of the building, causing a fire in several apartments. The accident was the result of high winds and pilot error. Specifications (SR20-G3) See also References External links Used Aircraft Guide: Cirrus SR20 from Aviation Consumer SR20 1990s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1995