aviation accidents

The non-instrument-rated pilot rented the airplane in Canada and filed a VFR flight plan for a cross-country flight to a destination in Canada. The flight was not approved to leave Canada. The flight plan was subsequently closed and investigators could not determine the flight’s last departure point and time. The wreckage of the Cessna 172 […]

The pilot flew the Pitts S1S for about 30 minutes and then returned to the airport in Wellington, Kansas, for landing. As the plane approached the airport, the engine lost power, and the pilot made a forced landing short of the runway. Fuel was found onboard, and it was not contaminated. Testing of the engine’s […]

The Piper PA 18-150 pilot was attempting to takeoff from a public street in Wasilla, Alaska, but the airplane would not climb, and struck a light pole, sustaining substantial damage to both wings and the fuselage. The pilot stated that he failed to remove heavy frost from the airplane prior to the takeoff attempt. The […]

According to the pilot, the Aeronca 65 was fueled the day prior to the accident and flown 246 miles. Prior to the accident flight, which was 213 miles, he added approximately two gallons of fuel to the main fuel tanks, which provided about 13 total gallons of fuel on board for the flight. While enroute […]

During the landing flare to a private field, the RV-12 encountered a crosswind from the southwest. The wind pushed the airplane to the north and it landed prematurely on a high berm located to the north of the runway in Hatley, Wis. The landing gear collapsed and the airplane was damaged by the post-impact fire. […]

According to the Lake LA-4 pilot, he made a pass over a lake near Monticello, Ky., in search of a landing site with the least amount of boat traffic. After an uneventful water landing, he began to water taxi the airplane. He and his passenger then noticed a large wave approaching at a 45° angle […]

According to the pilot, he departed for a flight to his home base airport. While the Ercoupe 415-D was climbing through 200 feet above ground level, the engine began to run roughly. While he was attempting to turn back toward the airport in Beaver Falls, Pa., the engine experienced a total loss of power. He […]

The Cessna 170B pilot departed a remote, off-airport site near Glennallen, Alaska, to search for a moose he had shot earlier in the day. A witness observed the airplane perform a series of low-altitude maneuvers before flying by his location about 80 to 100 feet above the ground. The airplane then began a left turn, […]

The pilot landed the RANS S-6ES at a private airstrip near Mullen, Neb., where the airplane contacted gopher mounds and soft ground. The nose landing gear collapsed, the airplane nosed over, and it sustained substantial empennage damage. The NTSB determined the probable cause as the gopher holes and soft terrain the airplane encountered, which resulted […]