During cruise flight in the experimental, amateur-built Mustang II, the private pilot attempted to move the fuel selector from the left to the right fuel tank. During that process, the engine lost power, and the airplane sustained substantial damage during the subsequent forced landing near Normangee, Texas. The pilot was seriously injured in the crash. […]
aviation accidents
Wrong part brings down 150
During the cross-country flight, the Cessna 150’s engine experienced a total loss of power and the student pilot performed a forced landing to a field near Simmesport, Louisiana. The airplane nosed over during the landing and came to rest inverted. An examination of the engine revealed that the incorrect bearing and thrust washer had been […]
Cessna 175 hits airport fence
According to the pilot, during approach to the airport in Gold Beach, Oregon, the Cessna 175 encountered a wind gust and the landing gear hit the top of the airport’s perimeter fence. The airplane flipped over and slid to a stop. According to the airport facility directory, the fence was in excess of 200′ from […]
RV-7 lands on airpark road instead of runway
The private pilot was landing the experimental, amateur-built RV-7 at a residential airpark in Tavernier, Florida. Immediately following the accident, a state trooper interviewed the pilot, who said the landing was his first one at the residential airpark and that he thought that the side road was the runway. The airplane struck three mailboxes, a […]
152 pilot hits snow berm on landing
The pilot reported that on his second landing he felt a “small” impact just before touchdown, and then the Cessna 152 pitched down and skidded to a stop at the airport in Shirley, N.Y. After the airplane came to a stop, he observed smoke coming from the lower left side of the cowling just forward […]
Spatial disorientation fatal for two
The private pilot was flying along a shoreline of the Gulf of Mexico in dark night conditions, with a tailwind, on an extended left base leg for landing at the airport in Destin, Florida. Witnesses reported the pilot announced a go-around on the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). Radar track data depicted the Piper […]
Failure to execute missed approach leads to accident
The pilot was conducting an instrument approach in instrument meteorological conditions to the airport in Sturgis, S.D. Upon reaching the decision altitude, the front seat passenger reported the runway was in front of the Piper PA-24. The pilot looked up from the instruments, but could not see the runway out the windscreen or the side […]
Distracted pilot lands on taxiway
The pilot, who was conducting a cross-country flight in a Beech 95, entered the pattern at the airport in Casey, Illinois, on the crosswind leg and set the mixture and power for landing and extended the flaps. He reported that the right engine “sputtered” while the plane was abeam the runway threshold. He immediately checked […]
Dragging the landing site goes awry for Alaska pilot
The pilot was on a personal cross-country flight to a remote, off-airport site in Sleetmute, Alaska, in a tailwheel-equipped Cessna 180. He said that before landing he intended to fly a low pass over the snow-covered site to determine the condition of the snowpack, a maneuver commonly known as dragging the landing site. He said […]