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 […]
NTSB
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 […]
Runway incursion kills three
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: 3 Fatal. Location: Owls Head, Maine. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot was attempting to takeoff at night and collided with a private ground vehicle that was crossing the runway. The impact tore off the airplane’s right elevator. The pilot continued with the takeoff, then turned to the left. Witnesses said the […]
Early morning flight ends fatally
Aircraft: Grumman Yankee Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Morgan, Utah. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: A witness reported that the airplane took off just before sunrise and that the engine sounded normal. However, during climb-out the airplane collided with rising terrain about three miles from the airport and about 776 feet above field elevation. A post-accident examination revealed […]
Wrong hose contributes to accident
Aircraft: Cessna 172RG. Injuries: None. Location: Lexington, Ky. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: Upon arrival at the destination airport during an instructional flight, the landing gear did not fully deploy. Only the nose gear and the left main landing gear extended and locked in the down position. Both pilots reported they attempted to retract the landing gear, […]
Inadequate inspection leads to fatal crash
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee Six. Injuries: 3 Fatal. Location: Jackson, Miss. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The airplane had been stored in a hangar with its fuel tanks half full under varying temperature conditions. The accident flight was the first time in two months the plane had flown. On the day of the accident, the pilot had planned […]