March 2002
December 31, Armonk, N.Y. / Beech Sierra
Subscribers Only At about 16:16 eastern time, a Beech 23-24R crashed near Armonk while maneuvering to land at the Westchester County Airport. The pilot was killed. The flight was headed from Portsmouth, N.H., to Philadelphia and was in cruise flight at 8,000 feet when it started to deviate from the assigned route. The controller advised the pilot of the deviation and provided radar vectors back to the airway. Shortly after that the pilot advised the controller he was having an electrical problem and would like to cancel his IFR clearance. In addition, the pilot said he would be proceeding direct to the Carmel VOR, and then to his destination. Radar data was limited for the last 15 minutes of the flight due t...
December 30, Milford, Conn. / Piper Arrow
Subscribers Only At about 18:08 eastern time, a Piper PA-28R-180 crashed into Long Island Sound off the coast of Milford, killing the pilot. The flight had been under way for about two and a half hours when the pilot made a visual approach to his planned destination of Sikorsky Memorial Airport. When he reported not being able to see the airport, he was vectored for the VOR Runway 29 approach. During the approach, the airplane began a descent of about 1,300 fpm until radar contact was lost. Examination of the wreckage showed the fuel selector was on the left tank, which contained only six gallons of fuel. The right tank contained 17 gallons. ...
December 29, Gainesville, Ga. / Mooney M20C
Subscribers Only At 14:10 eastern time, a Mooney M20C lost engine power and struck trees while on approach to Gilmer Memorial Airport, killing the pilot. The Gainesville Unicom operator said the pilot reported a loss of engine power and said he was landing on runway 11. A witness observed the airplane rocking its wings and then nose down into a spin. The airplane struck the ground in about a 70-degree nose-down attitude. ...
December 27, Trenton, Fla. / Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At about 19:50 eastern time, a Cessna 172M lost electrical power near Trenton and crashed in the ensuing forced landing. The pilot and two passengers suffered minor injuries. The pilot said he was in cruise flight when the electrical equipment began to fail. He checked the voltmeter and saw the red light was not illuminated. The voltmeter needle was slightly off the middle scale. He flew about 30 to 40 minutes while trying to locate an airport. A passenger called 911 on a cell phone to get assistance. The pilot spotted an open field and made a forced landing, but on the landing rollout the airplane struck a dirt mound. ...
December 26, Winters, Calif. / Aeronca 7AC
Subscribers Only At about 17:45 Pacific time, an unoccupied Aeronca 7AC crashed in the mountains near Winters. The airplane took off from a private airstrip near Petaluma with no one aboard after the pilot started the airplane by hand propping the propeller. The airplane was not equipped with an electric starter and the pilot routinely started it by pulling the propeller through by hand. Prior to the accident, the pilot concluded the engine was flooded, so he turned off the mags and applied full throttle. He propped the engine backward to clear the fuel, then turned the mag switches back on for a normal start. He forgot to retard the throttle. The engine started a maximum power and took off. The crash site w...
December 26, Kennesaw, Ga. / Piper Warrior
Subscribers Only At about 21:52 eastern time, a Piper PA-28-161 crashed into wires near Kennesaw. The pilot and passenger reported no injuries. The pilot said he left Cleveland, Ohio, about five hours, two minutes before the accident. He had planned to stop for fuel in Knoxville, Tenn., but while on approach concluded he had enough fuel to make it to Clayton County Airport. En route to Clayton County, he checked his fuel status and decided he still had sufficient fuel to reach the airport. A short time later his right tank went dry, but he estimated he still had 25 minutes of fuel in his left tank. He changed his destination to the nearest airport, about 10 minutes away. He ran out of fuel about 3.5 miles fr...
December 24, Prescott, Ariz. / Piper Turbo Arrow
Subscribers Only At 08:55 mountain time, a Piper PA-28RT-201 failed to climb after takeoff on runway 21L and settled back onto a taxiway at Love Field. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Airport personnel who responded to the scene said “most of the wing surfaces” were covered with one-eighth to three-eighths of an inch of snow and ice. ...
December 21, Elkhart, Ind. / Cessna Skylane
Subscribers Only At 18:20 eastern time, a Cessna 182P struck a pickup truck while on short final to land on runway 21 at Mishawaka Pilot’s Club Airport. The pilot and the driver of the truck both received minor injuries. ...
December 20, Lewiston, Maine / Cessna Caravan
Subscribers Only At 20:00 eastern time, a Cessna 208B struck an antenna after an aborted takeoff from Auburn/Lewiston Municipal Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said the airplane was covered with snow when she arrived at the airport at 19:15. She preflighted the airplane, loaded the cargo and then cleaned the snow from the airplane with a ladder and broom. She checked for snow contamination again before takeoff, but during the roll the airplane lifted off only momentarily before settling back to the runway. Her attempt to stop the airplane before the end of the unpaved runway was unsuccessful. ...
December 19, Sanford, Fla. / Pitts S-1S
Subscribers Only At about 12:30 eastern time, a Pitts S-1S nosed over during landing roll at Orlando Sanford International Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was landing on runway 09 center when a light tailwind picked up the tail of the airplane. The airplane’s propeller struck the ground, and the airplane nosed over and landed upside-down on the runway. Winds at the time were from 260 degrees at 10 knots. ...
December 18, Reno, Nev. / Cessna 185
Subscribers Only At about 13:30 Pacific time, a Cessna 185F ground-looped on landing at Reno. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The pilot stated the landing was uneventful until he lowered the tail to the ground, at which point the airplane suddenly veered to the left. The pilot told investigators that several previous occasions the tailwheel seemed to stick initially and cause the airplane to deviate from the selected track but would eventually free up and track straight. Inspection showed the tailwheel rotated freely until moved it to its maximum left deflection limit, at which point it locked. ...
December 17, Martinsburg, W.Va. / Cessna 401
Subscribers Only At 18:50 eastern time, a Cessna 401A suffered an in-flight fire during cruise flight, but the pilot made a safe landing. No one was injured. The airplane was at 6,000 feet with the combustion heater on when the pilot heard an explosion. Smoke then entered the cabin and the airplane lost all electrical power. The pilot did not declare an emergency and landed without incident at Eastern West Virginia Regional/Shepard Airport. The airplane had a total time of 5,231 hours and the combustion heater was subject to an AD for inspections every 250 hours and overhauls every 1,000 hours. The heater had been rebuilt about 1,300 flight hours earlier, but the heater’s Hobbs meter was destroyed and the ti...
December 16, El Paso, Texas / Schleicher ASW-24E
Subscribers Only At 15:16 mountain time, a Schleicher ASW-24E glider crashed just south of the departure runway at West Texas Airport, seriously injuring the pilot. The tow pilot said the towrope broke at about 100 feet agl with about 5,000 feet of runway remaining. Instead of landing straight ahead, the glider began a turn to the right, with the bank estimated to be “at least 90 degrees.” The glider’s left wing hit the dirt during the turn....
December 14, San Jacinto, Calif. / Cessna Turbo Centurion
Subscribers Only At about 15:28 Pacific time, a Cessna T210L struck mountains about four miles northeast of San Jacinto, killing the pilot. Minutes before the accident the pilot had received an IFR clearance for the GPS-A approach to Hemet-Ryan Airport. At the time of the accident, the airplane was between the initial and final approach fixes, but the pilot apparently had flown through the final approach course and the impact site was approximately 5.9 nm east of the approach course. The route was in an area where radar and radio coverage is sometime sporadic....
December 12, Montgomery, Ala. / Beech Baron
Subscribers Only At about 16:10 central time, a Beech 55 crashed after takeoff from Montgomery Regional Airport. The pilot and two passengers were killed. One witness said one of the engines sounded like it was running smooth and the other engine sounded like it was sputtering during taxi. On the takeoff roll, he said both engines sounded erratic and he wondered why the pilot did not abort the takeoff. The airplane did not appear to climb very fast and disappeared into the clouds, then crashed shortly thereafter. Another witness verified the rough-sounding engines, saying he told others at the time, “There’s no way I would be on an airplane sounding like that.” Just after a minute after takeoff, the pilot ra...
December 12, Jacksonville, Fla. / Piper Cherokee Six
Subscribers Only At about 19:41 eastern time, a Piper PA-32-260 crashed while making a missed approach at Jacksonville International Airport. All four aboard were killed. The flight departed Fort Lauderdale three hours earlier and flew to St. Augustine, where it made a missed approach. The flight diverted to Craig Airport in Jacksonville, where it made a missed approach. It then diverted to Jacksonville International Airport, where the pilot missed another approach, and then the flight was lost from radar. The wreckage was not found for 18 hours....
December 09, Reedsburg, Wis. / Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At 11:15 central time, the pilot of a Cessna 172L lost control on takeoff and struck a runway end identifier light control box. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said his seat slid back as he was trying to attach a GPS to his leg during the takeoff run. The airplane went off the left side of the runway and struck the box. The pilot aborted the takeoff, then departed in the airplane and flew to Kenosha....
December 08, New Orleans, La. / Curtiss-Wright Helldiver and Cessna 152
Subscribers Only At 15:26 central time, a Curtiss-Wright SB2C struck a Cessna 152 single-engine airplane while taxiing at New Orleans Lakefront Airport. The SB2C, the only flying example of the World War II dive-bomber, sustained minor damage. No one was injured. The pilot of the Cessna reported that she had just landed on runway 36R and exited the runway at taxiway Juliet, where she stopped to perform her after-landing checklist. The pilot of the Helldiver was holding on Juliet on the other side of the runway, waiting for the Cessna to exit. He was cleared to taxi to parking and twice asked the ground controller if traffic ahead was clear. The tailwheel airplane had limited visibility to the front and the n...
December 05, Prescott, AZ / Cessna Skylane
Subscribers Only At 10:11 mountain time, a Cessna 182E crashed shortly after takeoff from runway 21L at Love Field Airport. The pilot and front-seat passenger were killed and two passengers in the rear seat received serious injuries. After takeoff, the controller observed the airplane losing altitude and making a banking turn to the right back toward the airport. The pilot reported experiencing difficulty. A flight instructor taking off behind the accident airplane reported the airplane’s initial climb rate was only 150-200 fpm. At a quarter-mile past the departure end of the runway, the airplane had climbed to about 300 feet agl. The airplane then banked to about 80 degrees and appeared to stall and spin. W...
December 04, Corona, Calif. / Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At about 22:15 Pacific time, a Cessna 172C lost engine power during an attempted go-around and crashed off the departure end of the runway at Corona Municipal Airport. The three occupants were not injured. The student pilot, who owned the airplane, said he switched the fuel selector to the BOTH position about 5,500 feet over Ontario, verifying its position by feel. On short final he noted that they were too high and too fast, so he initiated a go-around. The engine did not respond to a power application. Witnesses who arrived on the scene immediately noted there was fuel in both tanks. Investigators later found the fuel line to the gascolator was broken at the attach point (possibly from imp...
December 04, Johnson City, Tenn. / Beech Baron
Subscribers Only At about 10:50 eastern time, a Beech B55-T42A crashed while maneuvering near Johnson City, killing the pilot. Numerous witnesses reported seeing the Baron flying formation with a Cessna 210. As the formation approached the airport, it was flying low and fast. The flight appeared to be flying into the break, military-style. The lead 210 executed an abrupt pitch up and left bank, and the Baron hit a 65-foot tree at about the 50-foot level....
December 02, El Dorado, Calif. / Piper Comanche
Subscribers Only At about 18:15 Pacific time, a Piper PA-24-250 struck terrain while in cruise flight near El Dorado. The pilot and three passengers were killed. The flight was bound from Las Vegas to Cameron Park, Calif. The pilot apparently did not get a weather briefing or make contact with any FAA facilities. Local residents reported strong winds and thunderstorms at the time of the accident....
December 01, Prescott, Ariz. / Piper Comanche
Subscribers Only At about 19:30 mountain time, a Piper PA-24-250 suffered fuel exhaustion while on final approach to runway 21R at Love Field and crashed about 450 feet short of the runway. The two occupants, both of whom were flight instructors, suffered minor injuries. The engine failed on approach with the fuel selector was positioned to the right auxiliary fuel tank and the pilot restored power seconds before impact by switching to a main fuel tank. Investigators found about 10 gallons in the left aux fuel tank, 25 gallons in the left main tank and 15 gallons in the right main tank. The right aux tank was completely dry....
Night Over Water
Subscribers Only It was a beautiful winter day in Honolulu, with clear skies, 15-knot Kona winds and visibility to almost forever. It was just a perfect day for honing skills and staying current. It had been some 7 weeks since I had last flown, and for a newly certificated private pilot with only 55 total flight hours, I needed to put in some flying time. I had made arrangements with my former flight instructor to rent a Cessna 152, the one that I had trained in and took my check ride in, so I was quite familiar with the aircraft. Unfortunately when I arrived at the airport I was informed that the aircraft was needed for flight tours and would be unavailable until after 4:00 pm. With five hours to wast...
Feeding Skeptics
Recently I was making two lunch-break errands and turned on WBUR, my usual NPR station. I heard that Robin Young would be exploring the world of GA as it related to the young Tampa student pilot’s suicide flight. The guest on the program: Ken Ibold. I stayed in the UPS parking lot (fulfilling NPR’s dream listener profile) until you were finished talking to her about small airports and breathed a little easier. As a pilot, obviously I am concerned about the future of GA, and after 9/11 felt a little put upon – that GA was paying a price for something it had little to do with. But this recent tragic incident squashed that theory, and I saw a real problem with our future. You handled Robi...
Clip-Wing Cessnas
Subscribers Only The following information is derived from the FAA’s Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts: The FAA has issued a special airworthiness information bulletin that expands on the information included in AD 2000-01-16, which applies to Cessna 300 and 400 series airplanes equipped with turbochargers. The compliance table in the AD, labeled “Figure 1,” stipulates that the replacement exhaust system components must be in new or overhauled condition, but the FAA has determined that some shops are not repairing the components to an overhauled condition. Provisions exist in the AD for repaired or serviceable parts in some applications, but apparently some shops ar...
NTSB Reports
Subscribers Only The following briefs were selected from the 121 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in December 2001. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. December 01, Prescott, Ariz. Piper Comanche At about 19:30 mountain time, a Piper PA-24-250 suffered fuel exhaustion while on final approach to runway 21R at Love Field and crashed about 450 feet short of the runway. The two occupants, both of whom were flight instructors, suffered minor injuries. The engine failed on approach with the fuel selector was positioned to the right auxiliary fuel tank and the pilot restored powe...
Chasing Ratings
Subscribers Only Advancing your ratings makes you a better/safer pilot. We’ve probably all heard that statement more times than we can count, and most pilots probably accept it as an empirical truth. However, others feel that their lack of advanced ratings does not make them any less safe or competent to fly the planes they do, the way they do. At the risk of sounding like a lawyer, the truth, I think, is that whether advanced ratings makes you a better/safer pilot depends a lot on what you mean by “better” and “safer.” Many folks equate the type of flying a pilot does or the certificates/ratings he holds with some sort of rank ordering of pilot skill/safety/proficiency. Few people would argue that...
Too Much, Too Soon
Subscribers Only As much as it pains some people to admit it, light airplanes are seldom the kind of go-anywhere-anytime transportation tools most pilots would like them to be. Generally speaking, the smaller the airplane, the less capable it is to perform all-weather duty. The limitations of flying light aircraft are such that weather can easily overwhelm any pilot who does not both recognize and accept the fact that sometimes the wheels ought to stay on the ground. While that’s a lesson instructors and examiners try to instill in every private and instrument applicant, sometimes the lesson comes too late to do the pilot much good. The temptation to push the envelope of both airplane and pilot is stro...
IFR Planning: Tactics vs Strategy
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] A friend of ours likes to say that flight training is supposed to be difficult and unpleasant, otherwise everyone could learn to fly. We have to wonder if his grim humor forms more of the underpinning of the flight training edifice than we’re willing to admit. Perhaps that’s one way to explain the illogical way pilots learn the basics of flight planning generally and IFR planning specifically. The IFR written still contains a series of impenetrable questions that require pin point use of a whiz wheel to calculate time en route and fuel burns to a resolution of a couple of minutes – this despite the fact that no one does that in the real world and probably hasn’t since the 1950...
Why Twins Crash
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] Like the speed of light and the fact that the best parking spaces are already taken, one of the constants in the universe is this imponderable question: Is a twin safer than a single? Does having two motors really add measurably to the safety margin or is it, like so much else in GA, undiluted marketing hype? If we could answer this question, we could also turn lead to gold and all of our computer hardware would actually play when plugged. In the end, however, we think there are too many variables to say with assurance that an extra engine really does improve the safety margin for the average owner-pilot. We emphasize average as a means of noting that not all owners pursue th...
Is Flying Safe?
Since the dawn of flight, pilots have been forced to validate their infatuation with aviation by giving a convincing answer to the simple question, “Are airplanes safe?”
Airspace Blunders
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] It was a typical pre-9/11 afternoon as we approached White Plains. New York Tracon handed us off to White Plains Tower and the controllers were issuing their usual rapid-fire instructions to the arriving mass of airline, regional, business and general aviation aircraft. The frequency was so congested that most of the arriving aircraft were unable to read back the instructions. We had the TCAS turned down to a six-mile range and our heads were on swivels since the airspace was so busy. The TCAS screen was full of targets. We were watching the business jet ahead of us turn onto final when suddenly it made an abrupt nose-up maneuver. The pilot cried over the frequency, “What...