The pilot was attempting to land the Luscombe 8 in Elkhart, Indiana. The airplane touched down on the left main landing gear and bounced. [Read more…]

The pilot of a Mooney M20J was attempting to land in Warsaw, Indiana. He told investigators that during the downwind leg of the traffic pattern he did not compensate for winds pushing the airplane toward the runway and, as a result, he overshot the turn to final. The Mooney was not aligned with the runway when it hit the ground hard and bounced. [Read more…]

The student pilot was on his first solo cross-country flight in a Cessna 150 near Matlock, Wash., when the weather started to deteriorate. He descended to a lower altitude to avoid clouds and proceeded toward the nearest airport.

When he tried to level off at the lower altitude, the airplane continued to descend at a rate of about 700 feet per minute. He applied full engine power, but the engine did not respond and the airplane continued to descend. [Read more…]

The private pilot and a CFI were on an instructional flight in a Cessna 172 near Peoria, Illinois. The airplane was equipped with an electric trim activation switch on the yoke.

According to the private pilot, during the takeoff shortly after rotation, the nose pitched downward and the plane bounced on the runway. The CFI took control of the airplane and attempted to abort the takeoff, but the plane bounced several more times before the nosewheel collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop. [Read more…]

A CFI and private pilot were attempting to do a two-leg cross-country flight in a Cirrus SR20. Before takeoff from Danbury, Conn., the CFI used a flashlight to look in the fuel tanks and determined they contained 25 gallons of usable fuel, and that the flight would require 23.3 gallons of fuel. He then entered 22 gallons in the airplane’s multifunction display (MFD) fuel totalizer. The airplane reached its destination airport and landed without incident. He did not refuel. [Read more…]

The pilot reported that he and a passenger were preparing to take off in a Quicksilver Sport from an airport in Camarillo, Calif.

The airplane has a rear-mounted engine and the engine was running when the passenger’s girlfriend approached the airplane from behind to check an airframe-mounted camera she had installed to document the flight. [Read more…]

A witness on the ground in Boulder, Utah, said the Cessna 140 was flying at a low altitude over an area that had power lines about 100 feet above ground level. The plane hit the lines and crashed, killing the pilot and passenger. [Read more…]