[chris]

A pilot escaped injury Sunday afternoon when his Cirrus SR22 spiraled out of the clouds over Gaithersburg and landed under an emergency parachute on Mallory Place, according to a preliminary federal investigation into the accident.

The plane took off from Montgomery County Airpark about 1:40 p.m. on March 15, headed for Battle Creek, Michigan, on an instrument flight plan. The pilot was flying alone, with no passengers aboard.

As the plane climbed through clouds around 700 to 1,000 feet, the passenger side door popped open about two inches, letting in rain, cold air and a rush of noise. The pilot told investigators he became disoriented and the plane's attitude began to vary.

He leveled the plane off and turned back toward the airport, but while maneuvering in and out of the clouds, it stalled and entered a spin. The pilot then activated the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System, a rocket-deployed canopy built into the aircraft for exactly this kind of emergency.

The plane floated down under the chute and landed on Mallory Place, a residential street between Snouffer School Road and Mountain Ash Way near the entrance to a pair of neighborhoods, not far from where it had taken off. Several neighbors called 911 as it came down.

No one on the ground was injured. The aircraft, registered N213CP, was substantially damaged, and the pilot, whose name was not released, was not hospitalized. The National Transportation Safety Board opened an investigation into the accident, and the parachute system, standard equipment on the SR22, has been used successfully in dozens of prior accidents, according to the manufacturer.