The Tower cleared me for takeoff, but did not say to use Bravo to get to the runway, which was behind me. Once cleared for takeoff I crossed both sets of dashed lines thinking I was on Runway XXR, but later realized I was aligned with a taxiway.
ASRS Reports
Student’s first cross-country ends with prop strike
I entered my flair and “ballooned” slightly. When I came back down from ballooning, I came down hard and, in the process, experienced prop strike, front gear collapse, and damage to my right wing before coming to a stop on the grass to the left of the runway with the help of the grass to arrest my momentum.
Near miss as CFI answers student’s question
I looked back outside in the general direction that the airplane was supposed to be at (right side) and saw the airplane in a steep bank at approximately 400 feet from us with no vertical difference. As soon as I saw them, I banked the airplane to the right and kept our climb pitch attitude. I reported to Tower that I had the aircraft in sight.
Unsafe buffoonery causes danger
During short final/touchdown we noticed the plane buzzed over the top of our aircraft at about 200 feet (ADS-B showing the information), causing undue danger in the event that we had to abort our landing for whatever reason. My instructor radioed to them about their unsafe buffoonery with zero recognition.
Pilot’s ego plays part in plane flipping over
The chain of events leading up to this incident were extremely interesting and like any error chain, there were numerous opportunities to break it.
Luscombe’s engine fails on takeoff
What I forgot to do was make any announcements on the CTAF after my engine failed. If it was busy, I am pretty sure I would have made a call that I had landed again and would be occupying the runway for a few minutes, and then another call to say I was clear.
Cirrus bent after encountering turbulence from cargo plane
I trusted the Tower to provide safe and adequate separation for our arrival and it could have cost us a lot more than a prop strike. I will not make that mistake again.
172 pilot accidentally cuts off Piper in traffic pattern
My own misjudgments of my timing and distance, mistake in missing calls for other aircraft to have an idea of what is going on big picture (as I would have been able to recognize that I would essentially be following an aircraft in the right traffic pattern), and the PA-28’s over extension and drift on the departure leg contributed to this event.
Gas cap flies off during takeoff
Shortly after takeoff, I noticed that the pilot side fuel cap had departed from the airplane and fuel was coming out of the wing at a tremendous rate. Fearing a severe weight imbalance, I Identified as an emergency and returned to land without further incident or damage.
Pilot pats himself on the back a little too soon
I was pretty impressed with myself that I got stopped in time to quickly dart into the FBO, landing in a record short distance. Unfortunately for me, they have changed the procedures at SMO since the last time I was there.
Confusion in tower contributes to near miss
Combine a short-staffed tower, very busy airspace, and the result is a near miss and a controller meltdown.
Airport truck ‘plays chicken’ with Mooney
After reaching rotation speed, I observed the airport vehicle cross the runway in front of me. It appeared he was playing chicken. I considered rejecting the takeoff but could not be certain the power changes and braking would help avoid the collision.