aviation accidents

The student pilot reported that while on a solo cross-country flight in a Cessna 172E, she was using dead reckoning through the mountains. She was unsure of her location and, as she proceeded to the west, the mountainous terrain became steeper, which required her to ascend from 7,500 feet mean sea level to 8,500 feet […]

Before departure for a positioning flight in Brooklyn, Iowa, the pilot was told that an observer/passenger would be joining him for the flight. The Cessna 206, which was typically used in skydiving operations, had its right cabin door removed, and a fabric roll-up jump door had been installed, which was not closed during the flight. The […]

The pilot was flying over a heavily wooded, remote area near Sisters, Ore., when the Cessna 172B’s engine lost power. He restarted the engine several times, and each time it ran for a shorter period of time. Eventually unable to restart the engine, he chose to ditch the airplane in a lake rather than descend […]

The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll in Mackinac Island, Mich., the Cessna 182T visually appeared and felt to be accelerating normally, but the airspeed indicator never increased above 40 knots. He aborted the takeoff when the plane was halfway down the runway. He used brakes to decelerate, but the 182 was skidding on the […]

During an instructional flight in a Cessna 172RG in Kent, Wash., the CFI asked the student pilot, a commercial rated pilot in the right seat, to demonstrate a simulated emergency engine-out landin The student reduced the throttle to idle, turned toward the runway, and completed the GUMPS (gas, undercarriage, mixture, propeller, seat belt and switches) […]

Shortly after departing from Tallahassee, Fla., on an instrument flight rules flight, the Mooney M20R abruptly lost all electrical power while operating in IMC. The pilot reported that, given the abrupt nature of the electrical power loss, he assumed it was due to a short circuit, so he did not troubleshoot the electrical problem. He […]

The pilot was performing aerial application of chemicals to a field near Simmesport, La., when the Air Tractor AT-301 began to settle during a low-altitude turn. The settling was consistent with flight at a high angle-of-attack or high drag condition, and the airplane may have been near or at its stall speed. The pilot was […]

The pilot landed the experimental nosewheel-equipped Glastar 500 feet beyond the landing threshold of the grass runway at Sequim, Wash., performing a full-flap, power-off approach. The runway was crossed by two asphalt taxiways, and during the ground roll, he observed a depression in the turf just before the first taxiway intersection. He applied back pressure […]

The pilot reported that he held a helicopter rating and he was receiving flight instruction to add an airplane single engine land rating to his private pilot certificate. He was on a solo cross-country flight in the Cessna 150D and had been inflight for about three hours when he became disoriented and was unable to […]