Aircraft: Piper Cherokee, Piper Comanche. Injuries: 2 Fatal Location: New Hampton, N.Y. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The two pilots arrived at the airport in a Piper Comanche to pick up the Piper Cherokee. The intention was that one would fly the Cherokee back to the departure airport. The pilot of the Cherokee, 53, […]
aviation accidents
Poor fuel management brings down airplane
Aircraft: Lancair Legacy Injuries: 2 Fatal. Location: Richlands, N.C. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The airplane had two fuel tanks, each capable of holding 33.5 gallons of fuel. Before departing on the last leg of a long cross-country flight, the pilot put 46.1 gallons fuel into the aircraft. The airplane had been flying for […]
Un-airworthy airplane crashes
Aircraft: Beech 18. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Miami Gardens, Fla. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot held an ATP certificate and had in excess of 6,400 hours of flight experience. He was the president and director of operations for the company that maintained the airplane, which was kept outdoors when not flying. The […]
Poor fuel management by Piper pilots
Aircraft: Piper Tomahawk. Injuries: 1 Serious, 1 Minor. Location: Manville, N.J. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot, accompanied by his pilot-rated son, departed on a flight to practice instrument approaches at three different airports. The practice approaches flown by the father were uneventful. The airplane was drawing from the right fuel tank during […]
Hard landing for Cessna
Aircraft: Cessna 150. Injuries: None. Location: Factoryville, Pa. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: According to the pilot, he approached runway 4 but performed a go-around due to gusty wind conditions. The second approach was higher than usual so the pilot increased the rate of descent. The airplane came down hard and bounced and veered […]
Lack of experience contributes to accident
Aircraft: RANS S12. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: Fort Collins, Colo. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was conducting an off-airport precautionary landing due to an unanticipated gusting wind and turbulence. Just before touchdown he made a sudden right turn to avoid a single-wire electric livestock fence. The airplane stalled and crashed. The pilot […]
Bad landing, worse go-around
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Millville, N.J. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot, who was on a flight with two pilot-rated passengers, was practicing a no-flap landing. During the landing he flared the airplane about half-way down the runway. The plane bounced, then pitched up and drifted to the left. The tail […]
Inflight fire for RV-10
Aircraft: RV-10. Injuries: None. Location: Minford, Ohio. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The experimental, amateur-built airplane was in the Phase 1 flight test phase and had accumulated about four hours flight time when the accident occurred. According to the pilot, during the accident flight he noticed low fuel flow so he activated the fuel […]
Inadequate flare, hard landing
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Bar Harbor, Maine. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The pilot was undergoing a flight review at the time of the accident. During the approach to landing he used 20° of flaps and attempted to side-slip the airplane. While beginning the landing flare the plane encountered a gust of […]