June 2002
March 31, Apex, N.C.: Piper Seneca
Subscribers Only At 1153 eastern time, a Piper PA-34-200T suffered an in-flight breakup near Apex, killing the pilot and passenger. The flight was cleared for the ILS Runway 5R approach to Raleigh-Durham International Airport and was 9.3 nautical miles from the airport. The pilot was given a radar vector to intercept the localizer. Witnesses reported hearing the airplane, then seeing the airplane come out of the fog straight down, with one wing coming down separately and debris falling after....
March 30, Grapeland, Texas: Mooney M20F
Subscribers Only At 1524 central time, a Mooney M20F lost engine power in cruise flight near Grapeland and was seriously damaged in the ensuing forced landing. The pilot and passenger were not injured. Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector revealed two holes in the engine’s #2 cylinder....
March 28, Seattle, Wash.: Boeing Stratoliner
Subscribers Only At approximately 1305 Pacific time, a National Air & Space Museum Boeing S-307 ditched in the waters of Elliott Bay following a loss of engine power. The two pilots and two flight engineers were not injured. The flight had departed from Boeing Field approximately 1230 en route to Everett and landed without incident. The airplane took off again and the number three engine experienced a momentary surge, then normalized. Due to this anomaly, the flight crew decided to discontinue the flight activities and return to Boeing Field. The landing gear was lowered but the left main gear did not fully extend. The approach was aborted to orbit the area to try and remedy the situation. The flight enginee...
March 28, Cincinnati, Ohio: Piper J4A
Subscribers Only At about 1500 eastern time, a Piper J4A lost engine power on initial climb from Cincinnati Municipal-Lunken Field and crashed. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said the engine stopped as he climbed through 500 feet. He attempted to return to the runway, but the landing gear struck the edge of the runway, the left gear collapsed, and the airplane flipped over. This was the first flight after the annual inspection, which included replacing the carburetor and changing the float. Post-accident examination revealed that the carburetor float was out of adjustment....
March 25, Fort Peck, Mont.: Piper Super Cub
Subscribers Only At about 0730 mountain time, a Piper PA-18 struck terrain after being damaged by gunfire near Fort Peck. The pilot and passenger were seriously injured. The pilot was conducting a coyote control flight over private rangeland. At about 40 feet agl, the passenger inadvertently discharged a semiautomatic 12-gauge shotgun three to four times, striking the right wing and aileron assembly. The airplane entered a descending turn to the right and subsequently impacted terrain in a nose-low attitude....
March 24, Englewood, Colo.: Cessna 340
Subscribers Only At 1631 mountain time, a Cessna 340 crashed on final approach to Centennial Airport, killing the pilot and three passengers. The tower controller at Centennial Airport said the pilot had been cleared to land on runway 35R. About 90 seconds later, the pilot reported he had lost an engine. Radar data indicates the airplane made a left 180-degree turn to the south and then radar contact was lost....
March 24, Avalon, Calif.: Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At 1100 Pacific time, a Cessna 172M porpoised on landing at Catalina Island Airport, damaging the firewall. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The pilot said the approach was normal. The flap position indicator ceased to function during the flight and the pilot estimated that he used 20 degrees of flaps for the approach and landing. He said that once he had the runway made, he reduced the throttle to idle and flared. The engine continued to produce power, running at 1,200 to 1,600 rpm and the airplane bounced several times as he tried to get it to settle on the runway. Finally, he pulled the mixture to kill the engine. The engine had accumulated only 17 hours of operation....
March 21, Susanville, Calif.: Eurocopter AS-350B
Subscribers Only At about 1335 Pacific time, a Eurocopter AS-350B collided with the surface of Honey Lake about 13 miles southeast of Susanville. The pilot was killed and two passengers were seriously injured. A passenger said that, just before the accident, the pilot stated on the intercom, “Boy, it’s disorienting when the lake is this smooth.” The wreckage was located about 1,000 feet from the shore....
March 16, Lexington, Ky.: Cirrus SR-20
Subscribers Only At about 1240 eastern time, a Cirrus SR-20 crashed near Lexington, but the pilot and pilot-rated passenger were not injured. The pilot planned to perform some practice instrument approaches in actual instrument conditions. The passenger was a friend of the pilot and also held a private pilot certificate. Both held instrument ratings. The pilot said he set the autopilot to the heading bug and was loading an approach into the airplane’s GPS when he noticed the turn coordinator pegged to the left with no flag and the airplane losing altitude. He disengaged the autopilot and attempted to stabilize the airplane. The airplane was descending rapidly at a high airspeed. When it broke out of the clou...
March 15, Ocean City, Md.: Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At about 1935 eastern time, a Cessna 172P crashed into the ocean while on approach to Ocean City Municipal Airport. Two passengers died and the pilot and a third passenger were not recovered. Another pilot said he was approaching the airport at the same time as the accident airplane. The accident pilot called Unicom looking for a taxi, but the witness pilot told him the airport closed at sunset and he’d have to get a taxi when he landed. The witness pilot saw the accident pilot make the turn to downwind for runway 20 and, as he neared the departure end of runway 14, the airplane went “from horizontal flight to vertical.” The witness pilot said it was a clear but dark night....
March 13, Fairbanks, Alaska: Piper Chieftain
Subscribers Only At about 1553 Alaska time, a Piper PA-31-350 was damaged during an inadvertent wheels-up landing at Fairbanks International Airport. The pilot and eight passengers aboard the Part 135 flight were not injured. The pilot said that, as he entered the pattern, he was told by the tower to cross over and enter right traffic for runway 1. The tower then told him he would have to extend downwind because of traffic. The pilot said he decided not to put the landing gear down at the usual point because of the request to extend his pattern. He said as he started to extend his pattern, the tower asked him to expedite a base turn and “keep it tight.” The pilot said he failed to complete his checklist on t...
March 12, Marianna, Ark.: Piper Turbo Arrow
Subscribers Only At approximately 1855 central time, a Piper PA-28RT-201T crashed while maneuvering near Marianna. The pilot and his passenger were killed. The pilot called for a weather briefing for a flight from Little Rock to Tunica, Miss., and was advised of low ceilings and marginal VFR along the route of flight. The pilot responded, “I’ll be heading to Tunica VFR. Guess I’ll be scudding it, it looks like.” The airplane was found to have hit a 60-foot tree about 40 feet up, at an elevation of less than 300 feet msl....
March 10, Glenwood Springs, Colo.: Mooney M20C
Subscribers Only At 2019 mountain time, a Mooney M20C crashed during a steep descent about 16 miles north-northeast of Glenwood Springs. The pilot was killed. The flight was headed VFR from Kremmling, Colo., to Grand Junction. About a half-hour after takeoff, the airplane made a wide turn to the left of approximately 450 degrees, followed immediately by a tight turn to the right of approximately 360 degrees. Two radar antenna sites were used to track the airplane. The first site lost radar contact at 2019:19, when the target was at 13,500 feet msl and the second site lost radar contact at 2019:33, when the target was at 10,500 feet msl – a descent of 3,000 feet in 14 seconds. Weather conditions did not allow...
March 09, Teterboro, N.J.: Cessna Turbo Centurion
Subscribers Only At about 1358 eastern time, a Cessna T210N lost power and crashed at Teterboro Airport, killing the pilot. The pilot departed on runway 6 from intersection Golf and did not make any transmissions after departure. Less than a minute later, another pilot reported an airplane down on the airport. Witnesses reported hearing the engine fail and the airplane make a steep turn back toward the airport. An air filter was found to have been installed backwards, allowing elements of the air filter to be ingested by the turbocharger compressor....
March 07, Bullhead City, Ariz.: Cessna Skyhawk
Subscribers Only At 1407 mountain time, a Cessna 172L suffered a propeller blade failure during departure from Bullhead City/Laughlin International Airport. The student pilot landed on the remaining runway and overrun area. Neither the pilot nor his passenger was injured. Control tower personnel said the airplane had climbed to about 800 feet when the airplane experienced the failure. Preliminary examination revealed a disintegrated propeller hub with loss of propeller blades and a severed crankshaft aft of the shaft flange. The pilot reported that about 1 year prior to the accident, he and his instructor struck a bird during cruise flight. They made a “dead stick landing” into an airport, where they found t...
March 06, Barrow, Alaska: Cessna Caravan
Subscribers Only At about 1230 Alaska time, a Cessna 208B was damaged on approach to a remote airstrip approximately 52 miles southeast of Barrow. The pilot and four passengers on the Part 135 flight were uninjured. The pilot said he passed over the remote airstrip without seeing it but a passenger on the left side of the airplane spotted it. He also received a radio call from the ground stating he had just passed overhead. He said he was making a left turn back to the airstrip when he thought the number 4 cargo pod door came open. The airplane began to vibrate, fishtail from side-to-side and descend. He applied full power and leveled the wings and the airplane crashed on flat, snow-covered ground about a qu...
March 05, West Jordan, Utah: Velocity 173RG
Subscribers Only At approximately 1920 mountain time, an amateur-built Velocity 173RG was damaged in a gear-up landing at Salt Lake City Municipal Airport #2. The two occupants were not injured. An FAA inspector who was present when the accident occurred said the aircraft was landing after dark on runway 16. At the same time, a Cessna (registration unknown) was on approach in the opposite direction, to runway 34. The Velocity pilot reported that he attempted to talk to the Cessna pilot on the radio, but got no response on the CTAF. The Velocity pilot said he thought he had put the gear down and had three green lights. When he could not contact the Cessna, he deviated to the left side of the runway and decide...
March 04, Springfield, Mo.: Beech Baron and Piper Archer
Subscribers Only At 1300 central time, a Beech BE-55 and a Piper PA-28-181 were damaged in a mid-air collision about 20 miles southeast of Springfield. No one was injured. The Archer had departed Mountain Home, Ark., en route to Lee’s Summit, Mo., at 1145. Later the Baron, on an instructional flight with a flight instructor and a pilot-rated student, left on the same route. The airplanes were not flying a formation flight. Both airplanes were flying at 6,500 feet msl on an approximate heading of 330 degrees. The Baron overtook the Archer. When the CFI in the Baron saw the Archer, he pushed the yoke forward and attempted to pass beneath the Archer. The vertical stabilizer of the Baron struck the left main lan...
March 04, Macon, Ga.: Piper Warrior
Subscribers Only At 1108 eastern time, a Piper PA-28-151 struck trees on climbout from Herbert Smart Airport, killing the pilot and flight instructor. A witness reported the CFI and pilot were on an instrument training flight in the local area. They departed runway 28, climbed to approximately 300 feet and reported that they were going to return to the airport to land on runway 10. The airplane struck pine trees three-quarters of a mile southwest of the airport....
March 03, San Diego, Calif.: Piper Cherokee 140
Subscribers Only At 1534 Pacific time, a Piper PA-28-140 lost power and crashed about 1,300 feet short of runway 28L at Montgomery Field Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he spent 1.5 hours reviewing the flight manual for the airplane before departing because he was unfamiliar with the airplane. He took off at about 1320 on the left fuel tank, flew for a while, then switched to the right fuel tank for the return leg. He flew straight back to the airport, but the engine began to lose power about a mile from the airport. After the crash, fuel was found in the left fuel tank but not in the right fuel tank....
March 03, Mexia, Texas: Beech Duke
Subscribers Only At 1350 central time, a Beech BE-60 struck trees and a fence during takeoff on runway 18 at the Limestone County Airport. The pilot was killed. Witnesses said the airplane departed on runway 18, a 4,002-foot paved runway, with winds reported from 360 degrees at 17 knots gusting to 22. The airplane traveled about 1,000 feet past the end of the runway before colliding with a barbed wire fence and trees....
March 01 Austin, Texas: Beech Bonanza
Subscribers Only At 1641 central time, a Beech A36 crashed during a missed approach at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, killing the pilot and passenger. The pilot was cleared for the ILS Runway 17L approach and maintained the localizer and glidepath until near the approach end of the runway. At that point, the pilot declared a missed approach and the tower issued missed approach instructions. The airplane crashed 2,400 feet east of the departure end of runway 17L with the gear extended and the flaps at15 degrees. Austin was reporting an overcast ceiling at 100 feet, visibility one-quarter in light rain and fog at the time....
Extra Excitement
Subscribers Only During a recent instrument competency check, my instructor and I were making our last approach of the day, an ILS to runway 4 of our home field. Since we had successfully completed the required “hand-flown” ILS at another airport, this one was to be flown by my Mooney Ovation’s autopilot. The weather was clear, with light and variable winds at the surface. The plan was for me to demonstrate the transition from instruments with the autopilot flying to a full stop landing on runway 4. There was no reported traffic in the pattern at our uncontrolled home field. This was verified by another Mooney, which had just departed runway 22. Everything worked as advertised and I reported our positi...
CFI Care
I just read Ken Ibold’s article, “Pick Your Potion” [Training, April]. I started flying in 1986 and can appreciate a lot of the arguments made by people regarding CFIs. However, I’ve been a CFI for seven months now and can appreciate what it’s like on the other side of the fence also. I now realize how hard, tiring, stressful and sometimes tedious it can be instructing. I work part time at the local airport and can attest to the low pay received. As Mr. Ibold pointed out, it’s only received when instructing – not for paperwork or waiting for the student to do their pre-flight inspection. When asked how much I get paid to instruct, I’m embarrassed to say. Still, there is no excuse for...
Locked, Not Down
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 in a continuing attempt to get owners of Beech prop airplanes to use proper gust lock procedures. Numerous incidents and accidents have resulted from the failure of a pilot to remove the flight control gust lock prior to attempting to take off. Many involved the use of a makeshift gust lock, including such things as a common bolt or nail inserted through the holes in the control column provided by the manufacturer. Obviously, this tactic did not provide the pilot with any kind of reminder that a gust...
NTSB Reports
Subscribers Only The following briefs were selected from the 136 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in March 2002. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. March 01, Austin, Texas Beech Bonanza At 1641 central time, a Beech A36 crashed during a missed approach at Austin Bergstrom International Airport, killing the pilot and passenger. The pilot was cleared for the ILS Runway 17L approach and maintained the localizer and glidepath until near the approach end of the runway. At that point, the pilot declared a missed approach and the tower issued missed approach instructions. The ai...
Low Time Surprise
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] Check the ads for used airplanes and it’s pretty clear that most buyers are looking for a 1970s era airplane with low airframe and engine time. The Holy Grail, it seems, is a mid- to late-70s model with under 2,000 hours. Although the buyers’ intent is usually to find an airplane that has been well cared for, there are some cases where “low time” means neglected. Furthermore, many owners rely on operating hours when scheduling maintenance, not accepting the fact that many parts also need attention after the passage of time, even if the airplane has been on the ground. The buyer of a 1975 Cessna 177RG thought he’d found a good deal when he bought the airplane Dec. 30, 1999....
Nowhere to Hide
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] If the lure of exploration is strong, those magazine pictures of the backcountry airstrips, such as those in the Northern Rockies, are an irresistible lure. Vast areas in the United States are designated as wilderness area and are accessible only by horseback, hiking, drift boat – or airplanes. Most wilderness areas contain a system of airstrips ranging from nice grass airstrips with plenty of width and length to strips that are barely wide enough for the landing gear of a STOL aircraft. This is a very challenging aviation environment that must be flown by the right pilot, with the right equipment, training, experience and weather. The safety margins are very thin in thes...
Light Retract Safety
Subscribers Only For owners not blessed with heroic stick-and-rudder skills and cash to burn, the usual sequence of ownership starts with a fixed-gear single and progresses to a high-performance retractable. For many owners, the retract is the end game. The attraction of a folding-gear single is undeniable. These models are plentiful in both variety and price, most offer good performance at reasonable operating costs and they usually do represent a step-up in performance and capability. Ignoring price and performance for this analysis, we’re comparing these aircraft strictly on one narrow parameter: the model’s accident record. What kinds of accidents do they suffer and how do they compare with each ot...
Stopping the Roll
Subscribers Only As summer takes hold, the days are getting long. They’re also getting hot, which means the other thing that will be getting long is takeoff distance. High temperatures – and therefore high density altitudes – affect every airplane, single-engine or multi, piston or jet. Higher elevations and bigger payloads only make the problem worse. In a single-engine airplane, the loss of engine power makes the next step pretty easy to determine. If the engine failure happens on the ground, you will stop. If the failure happens in the air, you will land. Sir Isaac Newton assures us that this is so. Such outcomes are non-negotiable and cannot be changed. In a multi-engine plane, it is not alway...
Let There be Light
Night flight is one of the most beautiful times to be in a light aircraft. But there are some times when the unexpected jumps up in a way that’s terrifying at best, deadly at worst. I was flying three passengers in a VFR Archer from Fort Myers, Fla., to Orlando one evening. We departed Page Field as the sky was just losing its grip on the last golden vestiges of the setting sun. Departure had been delayed a bit while we waited for some thunderstorms north of the airport to move east and out of the way. After takeoff, we were greeted by smooth air and a spectacular light show from the lightning that still exploded within the distant clouds. No one spoke much, enthralled as we were with...
Living With Mins
Subscribers Only [IMGCAP(1)] The pilot-in-command is in control of the safety of the passengers and care of the airplane. His judgment is the deciding factor in whether the flight should go or not go. His decisions are based on his evaluation of the conditions existing for a safe flight. He doesn’t give in to the demands or influences of the passengers. He also knows he can’t always rely on the FAA weather minimums as guidelines for the safety of his flight. FAA minimums for flight – both VFR and IFR – are the absolute minimum weather conditions to legally fly. They are not – nor were they ever intended to be – the standard every pilot can use to determine the level of safe operating procedures. Not e...