The airline transport pilot reported that, during a formation flight, the Yak 52’s engine started to run rough. Unable to maintain level flight, he detached from the formation to troubleshoot the problem.
He noted there were about 29 gallons of useable fuel onboard and all other indications were normal. The engine continued to lose power, and about 500′ above the ground, he elected to land in a vineyard in Porterville, California. [Read more…]
The pilot of the experimental, amateur-built airplane reported that he attempted to take off on a grass portion of his property in Windsor Township, Pennsylvania, that extended about 1,000′ before reaching power lines.
During takeoff on an approximate 130° heading, he noticed the Zenair STOL CH-701 was not climbing fast enough to clear the power lines. He pulled up “hard” to clear the power lines, but stalled the airplane. [Read more…]
The pilot flying the Beech 99 reported that, during an instrument flight rules instructional flight, the airplane was established on a very high frequency omnidirectional range approach.
During the approach, the pilot observed a large bird dive into the airplane’s nose section. [Read more…]
The private pilot was part of a formation of four airplanes making a cross-country flight during day visual meteorological conditions over a broken-to-overcast cloud layer. During the flight, the Nanchang CJ6A, which was positioned left of the lead airplane, began drifting to the left of and behind the formation, which resulted in the lead pilot losing sight of the airplane.
The lead pilot twice asked the accident pilot if he was okay and received affirmative responses. However, the pilot in trail lost sight of the accident airplane as it dropped below and behind his airplane, and the pilot positioned to the right of the lead pilot observed the accident airplane descend in a wings level, slight nose-down attitude into clouds below and behind their position.
Despite multiple attempts, no further radio communication was established with the accident pilot. [Read more…]
The pilot in the multiengine, retractable-gear-equipped airplane reported that he was flying in instrument meteorological conditions and leveled off at 8,000′ mean sea level.
He began to configure the Piper PA-34 for cruise flight, then realized that the right engine cross-feed fuel selector was positioned for the left tank. The left tank fuel indicator displayed empty, and the right fuel indicator displayed 45 gallons remaining.
He believed that the fuel indicators had malfunctioned, and he established an approach to a nearby highway intersection. The pilot landed with the landing gear stowed on the asphalt highway near Llano, Texas. [Read more…]
The pilot of the ski-equipped Bellanca 8GCBC reported that, during the landing roll on a snow-covered sand bar in Willow, Alaska, about 15 to 20 mph, the left ski hit a submerged frozen sand berm. [Read more…]
While conducting touch-and-go landings and as the private pilot landed the Piper PA-28R for the third time, the right main landing gear and nose landing gear collapsed, and the right wing was partially separated from the airplane.
Post-accident examination of the airplane revealed that maintenance personnel had improperly secured an unused instrument lamp socket during recent maintenance, which allowed an electrical short of the landing gear controls. [Read more…]
The accident flight was the Piper PA-12’s first flight after undergoing restoration over the course of two years.
Although the mechanic who had worked on the airplane with the pilot wanted the pilot to do a high-speed taxi test before flight, the pilot wanted to “hurry up” and test fly the airplane as he had a friend visiting and wanted to take him flying in the airplane.
During the takeoff, witnesses observed the airplane pitch up into a nose-high attitude just after liftoff, stall, and descend in a nose-down attitude to hit the ground at the airport in Sanford, Florida. The pilot died in the crash. [Read more…]
The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped Piper J-3 Cub reported that his airplane was not equipped with a radio and that the forward visibility was not good when taxiing while piloting the airplane from the rear seat. He entered a left downwind for the runway at the airport in New Carlisle, Ohio, saw no other aircraft while on final, and continued to land.
He added that, during the landing roll, as he turned to clear the runway, his airplane collided with a Cessna 172 that was taxiing on the same runway after having landed on it from the opposite direction. [Read more…]
The commercial pilot and three passengers departed on an instrument flight rules cross-country flight. While on approach to the destination airport, the pilot indicated to the air traffic controller that the Piper PA-46 was passing through areas of moderate to extreme precipitation.
After clearing the airplane for the approach, the controller noted that the airplane descended below its assigned altitude. The controller issued a low altitude alert, but no response was received from the pilot.
The airplane subsequently hit terrain in a level attitude about 12 miles from the airport near Harrisburg, Oregon. All four aboard the plane died in the crash. [Read more…]
