Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to use the emergency landing gear extension system, resulting in a gear-up landing. Contributing to the accident was an alternator belt failure.
aviation accidents
Unapproved Parts Cause Flap Binding During Flight
Probable Cause: The binding of the left flap due to improper maintenance.
Pilot Crashes Into Lake After Failed Go-Around
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during a go-around, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and impact with water. Contributing to the accident were crosswind gusts.
First Flight After Annual Bends Piper
Probable Cause: Loss of engine power due to fuel starvation as a result of the mechanic’s failure to properly secure the fuel system gascolator strainer bowl following an annual inspection.
Muscle Spasm Leads to Cessna 180 Pilot’s Loss of Control
Probable Cause: The pilot’s loss of directional control due to a muscle spasm.
Pilot Crashes Trying to Avoid Airplane on Runway
Probable Cause: The pilot having to take evasive action during the takeoff run to avoid another airplane being pushed onto the runway in front of him, which resulted in the airplane overrunning the runway and impacting a fence.
Pilot Mistakes Road for Runway
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to correctly identify the airport runway, which resulted in a landing on a road and contact with a power line. Contributing to the outcome was the sun glare.
Maintenance Error Leads to Engine Fire
Probable Cause: The failure of maintenance personnel to properly secure a B-nut on the No. 5 cylinder fuel injector line, resulting in a fuel leak and engine fire.
The Risks of Summer Thunderstorms for General Aviation Pilots
This summer we are likely to see metal bent, blood spilled, and easily preventable deaths as pilots fly into weather they have no business being anywhere near. That’s a bleak, depressing prediction but one that is based on what has happened in the past.