The pilot was taking off in the Mooney M20 when the engine began to sputter and lose power. He elected to reduce engine power and land on the remaining runway at the airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, however he had already retracted the landing gear. He lowered the landing gear handle, but was not able […]
aviation accidents
Vacuum pump failure fatal for three
The instrument-rated pilot was conducting a personal cross-county flight and was operating on an instrument flight rules flight plan. While he was flying in visual conditions between cloud layers at 7,000′ and heading toward the destination airport, he reported to air traffic control that the Beech V35 had experienced a vacuum pump failure and that […]
Bird nest brings down Piper
During preflight inspection of the Piper PA-22, the pilot discovered three baby birds in the cockpit. After removing the birds, he continued his preflight inspection, looking for a nest. He noticed that the rag normally used to cover one of the elevator openings was missing, but he did not find a nest inside. Immediately after […]
Cessna 210 pilot dies in crash
The Cessna 210 hit trees near Wantage, N.J., about an hour into a night cross-country flight. The pilot died in the crash. The weather was clear, with nearly a full moon and unrestricted visibility. The airplane was not reported overdue, but air traffic control began receiving reports of an emergency locator transmitter shortly after the […]
Loss of electrical power leads to bent 182
The private pilot stated that, while on a cross-country flight, he noted that the Cessna 182 was losing electrical power and decided to make a precautionary landing near Lake City, Florida. He attempted to extend the landing gear and advised air traffic control of the emergency before all electrical power was lost. Since electrical power […]
T-6 crash fatal for two
The airline transport pilot and a passenger departed on a local flight as part of a flight of two airplanes in daytime visual meteorological conditions. Shortly after takeoff, witnesses heard the North American AT-6’s engine popping; another witness reported a possible loss of power. The plane entered a right turn and appeared to slow. It […]
Ag pilot dies when plane hits cell tower wires
After completing an aerial application flight, the commercial pilot was returning to the base airport over 15 nautical miles away when the Air Tractor AT-502 hit terrain near West, Texas, and was consumed by a post-impact fire. The pilot died in the crash. Although the wreckage was significantly fragmented and damaged by fire, no evidence […]
Turbojet Seguin Quickie crashes during flight test
The commercial pilot and a colleague built the single-place, composite airplane with the intention of using it for air racing. Rather than using the single piston engine and propeller specified by the original plans, they opted to power the Seguin Quickie with two turbojet engines. The engines were designed and intended for use only on […]
Pressure leads to plane crash
The pilot of an experimental amateur-built airplane reported that he felt pressured by a trailing airplane while in the traffic pattern at the airport in Grass Valley, California. He further reported that this pressure caused him to turn base and then final sooner than expected, which resulted in an increased airspeed and higher than expected […]