Safety
Vision Jet Fire Mystery Solved
A fire in a Cirrus Vision Jet at Santa Monica Airport in December resulted in issuance of an emergency airworthiness directive.
Smoke haze near the center right seat in the cabin of a Cirrus Vision Jet just before flames engulfed the airplane. (Photo: NTSB)
Smoke haze near the center right seat in the cabin of a Cirrus Vision Jet just before flames engulfed the airplane. (Photo: NTSB)

When a first-generation Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet caught on fire while parked at Santa Monica Airport in Southern California on Dec. 27, 2019, it didn’t take long for photos and videos of the burning airplane to appear on social media. Speculation about the cause of the fire spread rapidly but Cirrus cleared up the questions around the accident with a service bulletin issued on February 7. The FAA followed with an emergency airworthiness directive (AD 2020-03-50) on February 14, which calls for compliance with Cirrus SBA5X-23-03.