The pilot was attempting to hand-prop a Piper Comanche by himself in Phillipsburgh, Ohio. He did not set the parking brake before he began the procedure. When the engine started, the airplane began to move forward. The pilot tried to reach into the cockpit to grab the hand brake, but in the process pushed the throttle in, which made […]
Night approach goes bad
The pilot, flying a Grumman Tiger, was attempting to land at the airport in Ankeny, Iowa, in night VFR conditions. He listened to the AWOS and learned the wind was from 220° at 10 knots, gusting to 26 knots. The first attempt to land resulted in a bounce, so he did a go-around. He came around […]
Oil starvation, miscommunication prove fatal
The lineman who serviced the Beech Bonanza prior to the flight noticed visible oil leaks on the airplane during refueling. He pointed them out to the pilot. The pilot, accompanied by two passengers, was flying in VFR conditions at an altitude of about 7,500 feet over Palm Coast, Fla., when he reported engine vibrations and an “oil pressure problem” to air traffic control […]
Super Cub breaks through the ice
The pilot took off in his Super Cub from a private airstrip in a wheel/ski-equipped airplane on a local area flight. He attempted to land on an ice-covered, frozen lake, and, due to the bare ice conditions, he elected to land in a wheel configuration instead of ski configuration. During the landing roll, as the airplane […]
Failed O-ring leads to loss of power
The student pilot, accompanied by a flight instructor, were practicing takeoffs and landings in a Piper Cherokee at the airport in Winder, Ga., when the airplane’s engine lost all power. The CFI took the controls and attempted to glide to a runway. The airplane was not aligned with the runway centerline and went off the edge […]
Failure to reset altimeter results in fatal low approach
The 387-hour instrument-rated pilot, who had just 17 hours in actual IMC, and a passenger were flying in a Piper Seneca in IFR conditions near Manteo, N.C. The weather at the destination airport at the time of arrival was IFR because of reduced visibility with low drifting fog. According to the passenger, the flight was normal and […]
Airplane hits ice on lake
The pilot of the wheel/ski-equipped Cessna 185 landed on a remote, frozen, snow-covered lake near Skwenta, Alaska. While taxiing to park, the right wheel/ski struck an area of ice overflow that was covered by snow. The axle bolts broke, pivoting the airplane to the right, sending the right wing into the snow-covered ice. The airplane […]
Poor decisions lead to fuel exhaustion, fatal crash
The pilot of a Piper Arrow and a passenger were attempting to fly a night instrument cross-country flight over Delaware. The pilot estimated the flight would take three hours 45 minutes. He planned to carry five and half hours of fuel onboard. About three hours and 20 minutes into the flight, when the airplane was about 15 miles […]
Deep snow snags Cessna
A private pilot and flight instructor were flying a Cessna 182 over a snow covered runway in Chiloquin, Ore. The pair did a low pass over the runway, then the CFI decided to demonstrate a soft field touch-and-go. The snow was deeper than the CFI anticipated and when the airplane touched down, the Cessna decelerated more […]