Aircraft: Piper Tomahawk. Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor. Location: Manville, N.J. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot, accompanied by his pilot-rated son, departed on a flight to practice instrument approaches at three different airports. The practice approaches flown by the father were uneventful. The airplane was drawing from the right fuel tank during […]
Hard landing for Cessna
Aircraft: Cessna 150. Injuries: None. Location: Factoryville, Pa. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, he approached runway 4 but performed a go-around due to gusty wind conditions. The second approach was higher than usual so the pilot increased the rate of descent. The airplane came down hard and bounced and veered […]
Lack of experience contributes to accident
Aircraft: RANS S12. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Fort Collins, Colo. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was conducting an off-airport precautionary landing due to an unanticipated gusting wind and turbulence. Just before touchdown he made a sudden right turn to avoid a single-wire electric livestock fence. The airplane stalled and crashed. The pilot […]
Bad landing, worse go-around
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Millville, N.J. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot, who was on a flight with two pilot-rated passengers, was practicing a no-flap landing. During the landing he flared the airplane about half-way down the runway. The plane bounced, then pitched up and drifted to the left. The tail […]
Inflight fire for RV-10
Aircraft: RV-10. Injuries: None. Location: Minford, Ohio. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The experimental, amateur-built airplane was in the Phase 1 flight test phase and had accumulated about four hours flight time when the accident occurred. According to the pilot, during the accident flight he noticed low fuel flow so he activated the fuel […]
Inadequate flare, hard landing
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Bar Harbor, Maine. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was undergoing a flight review at the time of the accident. During the approach to landing he used 20° of flaps and attempted to side-slip the airplane. While beginning the landing flare the plane encountered a gust of […]
Carb icing suspected in engine failure
Aircraft: Lancair 320. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Temple Bar, Ariz. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, the airplane was in cruise flight at 5,500 feet MSL when he decided to descend to 3,500 feet MSL to avoid a layer of haze ahead. At 4,000 feet, the engine began to lose power. […]
Hard landing bends Cessna
Aircraft: Cessna 177. Injuries: None. Location: Columbia, S.C. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, he flew a normal approach, but during the landing flare, the airplane encountered a gust of wind. It came down hard and bounced. The pilot heard a “clunk!” noise, and the airplane bounced a second time before […]
Worn mags bring down Cessna
Aircraft: Cessna 177RG. Injuries: None. Location: Gila Bend, Ariz. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, while the airplane was in cruise flight he heard a loud noise from the engine compartment, followed by an immediate loss of engine power. He attempted to restart the engine while diverting to the nearest airport. […]