Aircraft: Beech Baron. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Las Cruces, N.M. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot said he added 31 gallons of fuel, bringing the total amount of fuel to 70 gallons prior to departure. The fuel gauges indicated the main tanks were one-half to three-quarters full, with the remainder in the auxiliary tanks. The fuel […]
aviation accidents
Airplane vs. car
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: 2 Minor. Location: Roanoke, Texas. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The student pilot, who was returning from a solo cross-country flight, stated that the approach for landing at the private airport was normal until short final, when the landing gear struck an automobile that was being driven on a road that crossed near […]
Taylorcraft tangles with power lines
Aircraft: Taylorcraft BC12-D. Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious. Location: Clutier, Iowa. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot was attempting to land on an unimproved airstrip he had previously used. When the field was previously used as an airstrip, the power lines were buried, but at the time of the accident the power line were now above […]
Piper crashes in mountains
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee. Injuries: 3 Fatal. Location: Aurora, Utah. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: Family members notified the FAA that the airplane was overdue on the cross-country flight. One week after the initial notification, the wreckage was located in the upper end of a canyon about 11 nautical miles west of the departure airport […]
Solo cross country ends badly
Aircraft: Cessna 150. Injuries: None. Location: Red Oak, Iowa. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The student pilot was on the third leg of a VFR solo cross-country flight. He was on approach to an airport where he planned to do a touch and go, then return to his initial departure airport. During his first and second approaches […]
Parking lot mistaken for runway
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee. Injuries: 2 Fatal. Location: Canton, Conn. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot’s logbook indicated that he had flown one hour at night in the Cherokee in the preceding year. The accident happened at night on the second day of a long cross-country trip. Radar data showed that when the airplane was about 12 […]
Spatial disorientation at night proves fatal
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Savannah, Ga. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The accident happened in night IFR conditions as the pilot was attempting an ILS approach to a northbound runway. The pilot received his instrument rating about six months before the accident, at which time he reported about 189 hours of total flight time, including […]
Low altitude stall kills two
Aircraft: Grumman American. Injuries: 2 Fatal. Location: Burlington, Wis. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot had not flown much in the preceding two years. His most recent flight occurred more than five months before the accident flight. A witness on the ground saw the airplane maneuvering near the airport. According to the witness, the Grumman entered […]
VFR into IMC kills one
Aircraft: Cessna 182. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Bondurant, Wyo. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: There was no evidence that the pilot obtained a weather briefing for the flight. Both VFR and IFR conditions prevailed throughout the area and AIRMETs for instrument meteorological conditions, mountain obscuration, and moderate icing conditions were in effect throughout the area about the […]