April 2005
January 19, 2005, Akron, Ohio / Cessna 414
Subscribers Only At 0913 Eastern time, the airplane was substantially damaged during a hard landing. No one among the Private pilot or the two passengers was injured. Instrument conditions prevailed; the flight originated at the Akron-Fulton Airport (AKR), at 0840. Shortly after takeoff, the airplane “picked up real heavy ice,” according the to the pilot. The wing, propeller, and windshield deicing systems were activated, but the windshield’s “weeping” alcohol system could not keep pace with the ice buildup, and the windshield blurred “within seconds.” Ice accumulated on the wing deicing boots while they were inflated, and ice shedding from the propellers was heard throughout the flight. The pilot requested...
January 14, 2005 in Patterson, La. / Beech 95-B55
Subscribers Only The piston twin was destroyed following a loss of control during its initial takeoff climb from the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport (PTN), near Patterson, La., at 0954 Central time. The ATP-rated pilot and his dog were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed for the planned flight to the Houma-Terrebone Airport (HUM), near Houma, La. One witness observed the airplane climbing at a steep nose-high attitude with the gear and flaps retracted. At approximately 800 feet agl and approximately halfway down the runway, the witness observed the airplane start a slow left turn and reported that both propellers were turning. The witness said the airplane’s initial turn was slow, but then develo...
January 11, 2005, Monroe, La. / Cessna 182R
Subscribers Only At approximately 2010 Central time, the airplane impacted terrain about eight miles northeast of the Monroe Regional Airport, Monroe, La. Both occupants, each of whom held a Commercial pilot certificate, received fatal injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The instrument proficiency flight had departed about 30 minutes prior to the accident and was being operated in instrument conditions. After multiple approaches, one pilot had to execute a missed approach due to a failure to maintain a correct approach track. The aircraft was cleared for another instrument approach, but the pilot again had to execute a missed approach. During that missed approach, the controller gave the pilot a radar vect...
January 11, 2005, Rawlins, Wyo. / Beech BE-90
Subscribers Only The airplane was destroyed when it impacted terrain while flying the VOR/GPS Runway 22 approach at approximately 2145 Mountain time. Night instrument conditions prevailed for the air ambulance repositioning flight. The ATP-rated pilot and two crew members sustained fatal injuries; one crew member sustained serious injuries. The cross-country flight originated at Steamboat Springs, Colorado, at approximately 2115 to pick up a patient. According to the Denver Air Route Traffic Control Center, the airplane was lost from radar at 9200 feet msl in the middle of the procedure turn for the instrument approach to Runway 22 at 2142....
January 8, 2005, Marana, Ariz. / Cessna 150J
Subscribers Only At about 0815 Mountain time, the airplane collided with static cables from a power line pole assembly. The Private pilot, the sole occupant, was fatally injured and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual conditions prevailed for the local flight. According to the airplane owner, the pilot had stopped by his residence around 0600 the morning of the accident to ask if he could take the owner’s daughter flying. The owner indicated that it was too early to get her up, so the pilot went to the airport by himself. Around the time of the accident the owner and his spouse were in their front yard with their coffee and newspaper walking towards the back of the house when they saw the accident...
January 7, 2005, Bradley, S.C. / Piper PA-28-181
Subscribers Only The Private pilot and the three passengers were fatally injured and the airplane was destroyed in a collision with the ground and with trees at the end of a flight with an intended destination of Greenwood, S.C. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed. Nearby weather reports included calm winds, visibility of 10 sm, with broken cloud conditions at 2200 feet agl and an overcast at 3400 feet agl. All major components of the aircraft were found at the accident site; a fuel odor was detected in the locations where fuel tank pieces were found. Each propeller blade displayed chordwise gouges across the leading edge and forward face. All flight control surfaces were observed at the acciden...
January 4, 2005, Clewiston, Fla. / Cessna 172SP
Subscribers Only At about 1315 Eastern time the airplane veered off the runway while landing. Visual conditions prevailed; there were no injuries among the Private-rated pilot-in-command and the CFI, although the airplane was substantially damaged. According to the pilot, he had not flown for a couple of weeks and asked the instructor to accompany him. While on short final, the aircraft yawed to the left due to a strong crosswind and the pilot said he was unable to make the corrections needed to land straight. During the landing roll-out, the left main gear departed the runway surface and the flight instructor took control of the aircraft, adding full power. The aircraft lifted off slightly, turned abruptly...
January 3, 2005, Davenport, Wash. / Cessna 310J
Subscribers Only The airplane was substantially damaged during a hard landing at 1245 Pacific time. The Private pilot and passenger were uninjured. Instrument conditions prevailed for the descent while visual conditions were present at the destination airport. According to the pilot, the airplane encountered light mixed airframe ice during its descent and was in icing conditions for about 15 minutes. The pilot used the deicing boots during the icing encounter and cycled the boots for the last time on downwind leg for landing. During the landing flare, he reduced power over the threshold at about 15 feet agl. The airplane stalled at a higher-than-normal airspeed, resulting in a hard landing. The propeller tip...
January 1, 2005, Ainsworth, Neb. / Cessna 551 Citation
Subscribers Only At around 1120 Central time, the aircraft was substantially damaged during an in-flight collision with terrain while attempting to land. Instrument conditions prevailed; the Instrument-rated Private pilot and three passengers were uninjured. Two passengers reported minor injuries. At 1113:16, the airplane was cleared for a GPS Runway 17 approach. The pilot later stated that the airplane started to accumulate ice at around 4000 feet msl during the approach. Subsequently, the airplane descended out of IMC at between 300 and 400 feet agl. The Citation’s cockpit windows were obscured by the accumulation of ice and the pilot elected to land the airplane instead of executing the published missed-a...
Squawk Box: 04/05
Subscribers Only The following information is derived from the FAA’s Service Difficulty Reports and Aviation Maintenance Alerts. ---------- Beech 58 Cracked Brake Rotors Left and right brake rotors were found to have radial cracks on the inside wear surface. Both were replacement parts (Rapco p/n RA-164-02706). This technician also found similar cracks on two other Barons with the same part numbers and equivalent service time, of five out of six inspected brake assemblies. The report speculates there may be a manufacturing defect at play. Part total time: 370 hours. Beech (Raytheon) 300 Inner Windshield Failure Aircraft was at FL290 with an outside temperature of -38 de...
Learning Experiences: 04/05
Subscribers Only Ice In The Desert Heading to Mesa, Ariz., from Dallas, Texas, we landed my twin Travelair for fuel in El Paso. It was a cool February morning, at about 0200. Weather included scattered clouds with a 30-knot headwind. Talking to a cargo pilot who had just flown the same route in reverse, I learned the winds were strong but there was no ice or other problems. Off we went. It was a very dark night, with a high cloud layer blocking any moonlight. About 45 minutes after takeoff, I noticed what appeared to be a storm cell ahead of us. I made a slight course change but minutes later showers started to hit the plane. The headwinds increased to over 50 knots and it was raining hea...
NTSB Preliminary Reports
Subscribers Only January 1, 2005, Ainsworth, Neb. Cessna 551 Citation At around 1120 Central time, the aircraft was substantially damaged during an in-flight collision with terrain while attempting to land. Instrument conditions prevailed; the Instrument-rated Private pilot and three passengers were uninjured. Two passengers reported minor injuries. At 1113:16, the airplane was cleared for a GPS Runway 17 approach. The pilot later stated that the airplane started to accumulate ice at around 4000 feet msl during the approach. Subsequently, the airplane descended out of IMC at between 300 and 400 feet agl. The Citation’s cockpit windows were obscured by the accumulation of ice and the pilot e...
Complacency Kills: Accident Probe 04/05
Subscribers Only A low-time pilot elects to fly into deteriorating weather at night and without an Instrument rating. The result was predictable.
Spring Cleaning
Subscribers Only Forget bird nests and summer-weight oil. After a long layoff, both you and the airplane need a thorough going-over.
Progressive Planning
Subscribers Only Many different applications are available to help plan your flights. But once airborne, not much has changed when it comes to monitoring progress.
What’s It Doing Now?
Subscribers Only Autopilots are often the least well-understood pieces of equipment in the panel. But knowing your flight director/autopilot can make your flying safer.
Upset Recovery
Subscribers Only Recovering from an upset requires quickly assessing the airplane’s energy state and attitude, then applying the appropriate corrections.
Cirrus: A Sober Look
Subscribers Only A series of accidents has tarred the reputation of what was supposed to be the safest GA airplane ever made. But is that an accurate picture? An honest look at the Cirrus accident record.
Unicom: 04/05
NTSB Summaries Having just resubscribed after a several-year hiatus in flying, and having just received the February 2005 issue, I am disappointed in the sparse information included in the NTSB summaries of recent accidents. For example, the Canadair CL-601 accident at Montrose, Colo., makes no mention of the fact that the runway was in the process of being cleared, that only a 40-foot-wide section had been plowed, and that a four-inch-high berm of slush surrounded the cleared part of the the runway. The other runway at Montrose was also in the process of being plowed. There was no mention of the fact that the aircraft did get airborne but then struck a wing tip, which tore off...
Editor’s Log 04/05: Spring Training
By the time you read this, spring will have come to most of North America and all of us will be clogging the runways and taxiways at our local airports, trying to get airborne after a long, cold winter. And we’ll make mistakes. Hopefully, those mistakes will be small, embarrassing ones, not the kind that bend sheet metal or fracture composites. I don’t know about you, but after even a couple of weeks between flights, I’m not as sharp as I was the last time I pushed my airplane into its hangar. My cockpit flow isn’t as good, I’ll flub a few radio transmissions and I probably won’t be as far ahead of the airplane as I should. I might forget to set the DG to the runway heading before lifto...