Aircraft: Piper Super Cub. Injuries: None. Location: Carnation, Wash. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: During a local area flight, the pilot decided to make a practice landing on a gravel bar near the middle of a river. With limited landing distance, he decided to fly his approach at a low airspeed, with the intention […]
Poor approach, poor landing
Aircraft: Cessna 150. Injuries: 2 Minor. Location: Kenmare, N.D. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot, who was attempting to land in a farm field, applied full flaps while on final approach but did not flare quickly enough prior to touchdown and the airplane bounced twice. The nose gear collapsed and the airplane nosed […]
Mountain flight goes bad
ircraft: Aviat A-1B. Injuries: None. Location: Heber City, Utah. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was practicing the procedures for making approaches to backcountry remote airstrips and was flying in approach configuration about 40 to 60 feet over a mountain ridge. Although the wind was light and variable, just as the airplane was […]
Poor maintenance leads to crash
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Pineville, La. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: Following the installation of an overhauled engine and the completion of an annual inspection, the pilot/mechanic who performed the work elected to fly the airplane. During takeoff the engine indications were normal and the airplane climbed to about 500 feet AGL […]
No rudder leads to lack of control
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Gaithersburg, Md. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The student pilot, who was attempting to land, made the approach five knots faster than normal because of a headwind. During the landing flare, the plane encountered a gust of wind, and bounced on the runway. The pilot added power to […]
Drugs, poor health contribute to fatal accident
Aircraft: American Champion 8GCBC. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Bremerton, Wash. Aircraft damage: 1 Fatal. What reportedly happened: The pilot, 74, held an airline transport pilot certificate with an instrument rating. His most recent FAA third class medical certificate was issued in September 2010 with three limitations: Must wear corrective lenses, not valid for night flying, […]
Electrical failure leads to gear-up landing
Aircraft: Piper Arrow. Injuries: None. Location: Spring Texas. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: Shortly after takeoff, the airplane experienced an electrical failure. The pilot elected to return to his departure airport for landing. He performed an emergency landing gear extension, however, with no electrical power remaining, he could not verify that the landing gear […]
Engine failure on takeoff results in four fatalities
Aircraft: Piper Seminole. Injuries: 4 Fatal. Location: West Palm Beach, Fla. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The commercial pilot’s most recent flight in a multi-engine airplane was about one year before the accident. He had a total of 298.2 hours of which 46.7 hours were in multi-engine aircraft. He was flying with an instructor […]
Plane crash kills CAP Mississippi Wing officers
JACKSON, Miss. – A plane crash here Tuesday evening killed three of Civil Air Patrol’s Mississippi Wing members – Col. John E. Tilton Jr., former member of Civil Air Patrol’s Board of Governors and Alabama Wing and Southeast Region commander; the Mississippi Wing’s standardization/evaluation officer, Lt. Col. David Williams; and Capt. William C. Young, finance […]