aviation accidents

The Dragonfly gyroplane was in the traffic pattern at the airport in Anahuac, Texas, when witnesses saw the main rotor head separate in flight and the gyroplane subsequently hit terrain, killing the pilot. The pilot’s friends and the mechanic who performed the last conditional inspection reported that the pilot/owner performed most of the maintenance on […]

The pilot was landing the Cessna 172 on a soft tidal beach in Juneau, Alaska. He reported that he had landed the day before at the same location without incident. During the landing roll, the landing gear contacted an area of soft sand, and the plane nosed over, resulting in substantial damage to the right wing and left […]

The Maule MX 7-235 pilot reported that he departed from a remote private air strip near San Ynez, Calif., and proceeded along a geological drainage ravine for three miles, then turned up a side canyon into rising terrain. As the plane approached a saddle in the terrain, he spotted two black bears. He entered a […]

The Aviat Aircraft A1B pilot reported that after touchdown on a grass airstrip in LaGrange, Wyo., the landing roll was normal for about 100 feet, but then the plane came to an abrupt stop, like it had hit something. It nosed over, substantially damaging the rudder and wings and minor injuries to the pilot. The […]

The Taylorcraft BC-65 pilot instructed the runway repair technicians at the airport in Fallston, Md., to move their equipment so that he could depart from the closed runway that was NOTAM’d. He then took off downwind. Later, he returned and the technicians were surprised when the airplane “committed” to landing downwind on the closed runway. […]

The RV-8 pilot reported that, during cruise flight, he felt a sustained vibration, which he thought was from the engine or propeller, and that the airplane then started to slow down. He made a forced landing to the desert near Wickenburg, Ariz., and the plane came to rest on its nose, which caused substantial damage. […]

The Cessna 182Q pilot reported that after landing in Braggadocio, Mo., with an eight mph crosswind, his left foot became lodged under a rudder pedal. The plane drifted off the runway pavement. He was unable to correct because of the soft turf condition. The nose landing gear subsequently dug into the ground and the plane […]

A Cessna 182L, the lead airplane, and a Cessna 185F, the trail airplane, collided during a formation skydiving flight in Superior, Wis., resulting in one minor injury. Both pilots flew the airplanes in a rectangular pattern until they reached the jump altitude of 12,700 feet mean sea level. The 182 pilot established a jump heading […]

As the Beech C90 was descending toward its destination airport, the pilot reported to an air traffic controller en route that he needed to change his destination to a closer airport because the airplane was low on fuel. The controller advised him to land at an airport that was four miles away near Springdale, Ark. […]