SR22
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Private
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 14; Flight Crew Total 1870; Flight Crew Type 138
Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Diverted; Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft; Human Factors
While climbing out I experienced a visible red alert on the panel accompanied by an aural alarm indicating CO LEVEL HIGH. Without having experienced this alarm previously I was unsure of the severity of the alert so after consulting the emergency procedure in the manual which stated 'land as soon as possible' if the alert did not extinguish I informed Departure of my intent to make an expedited landing straight ahead on the runway I had in sight. This runway was at a restricted Air Reserve Base but it was directly ahead; large and unobstructed. Given that a potential consequence of high CO is loss of consciousness or fire (from exhaust leak) I decided to proceed with an expedited landing and troubleshoot on the ground. After arranging access to the base for some local mechanics; their examination cleared me of the risk of significant threat of CO poisoning and I departed the base and continued on an uneventful flight home after stopping at another nearby airport for additional fuel because of the second climb out. It was later determined that a contributing factor to the alarm was likely to have been the recirculation setting on the aircrafts air conditioning system during climb out (on; instead of the proper off setting per the checklist).
SR22 pilot reported diverting to a nearby airport after noting a CO LEVEL HIGH aural alarm.