A. Sinan Unur wrote:

CNN is reporting that the pilot was a Yankee's pitcher: Lidle. He
apparently got his license only 7 months ago. Bragged about how safe his
plane was. I have a feeling this is similar to JFK junior's case of not
knowing one's limitations.

This 2005 article has some ominous comments about the plane:

From http://philip.greenspun.com/flying/cirrus-sr20

"The combination of novice pilots and a fast airplane has resulted in a
mournful accident record that is reflected in high insurance rates and
recurrent training requirements similar to what you'd find on a
twin-engine plane or pressurized single....If the engine were to quit
over water or the mountains at night, the parachute would be a nice
feature indeed. However, mechanical failures are not a very common
cause of small airplane crashes, and the Cirrus has some features, to
be discussed in this review, that make it more prone to pilot-induced
crashes than a Diamond or Cessna....Once in a spin the SR20 and SR22
are virtually impossible to recover, according to the test pilots..."

Ed