Accident Probes

October 1, 2020, Burlington, Wash. Zenith CH601 Experimental At about 1500 Pacific time, the airplane sustained substantial damage when it crashed short of the runway. The solo private pilot was not injured; visual conditions prevailed. After taking off on the first flight of the day, the pilot remained in the traffic pattern. During the turn […]

Most of my mountain-flying experience comes from frequent trips across or parallel with the Appalachian range in the eastern U.S. I’ve flown my share of trips to Las Vegas and California, though, and at least since an episode over North Carolina in a 160-hp Skyhawk, I’ve always tried to plan for and avoid related turbulence. […]

September 1, 2020, Walker, Minn. Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee 235 At about 2007 Central time, the airplane was destroyed when it collided with terrain while maneuvering near adverse weather. The solo pilot was fatally injured; flight conditions were unknown. The airplane departed Kirksville, Missouri, at about 1303 after adding 76.1 gallons of fuel, with an intended […]

Any pilot who has used a personal airplane for regular transportation has had to negotiate bad weather. By the time you accumulate more than 4500 hours of flight time, it’s likely you have dealt with a cold front or three, plus night IMC and a variety of other challenges. With that kind of flight experience […]

August 1, 2020, Seiling, Okla. Piper PA-28R-201 Arrow III/V At about 0130 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged during an aborted takeoff attempt. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The pilot later reported confirming takeoff weight was below the maximum and adequate fuel was aboard. He calculated the airplane required 1700 to […]

I’ve previously referred to scenes from Ernest K. Gann’s book “Fate Is The Hunter” in these pages. The combined autobiography and ground school traces his flying career from DC-2s over the eastern U.S., C-47s and C-87s over the North Atlantic during WWII, and DC-4s on the Honolulu/San Francisco run after the war. One of the […]

July 1, 2020, Brainerd, Minn. Piper PA-18A-150 Super Cub The pilot was receiving flight instruction in his newly purchased airplane to satisfy insurance requirements. During the flight, the two decided they would land in a hay field behind the instructor’s house, touching down beyond a ditch. After touchdown, the pilot “noticed trees at the end […]

These pages regularly urge new private pilots to go on to earn their instrument rating. Especially if you ever want to use a personal airplane for regular, reliable transportation, the rating is pretty much mandatory. If you’re content to only fly on good-weather days in search of expensive hamburgers and to abandon the peace-of-mind the […]

Poor weather has always topped my list of potential aviation hazards. But after earning the instrument rating, I was much more willing to go out and tackle low ceilings and visibility, which inevitably led to poking around thunderstorms and frontal activity. I quickly learned there were no iron-clad rules or procedures for safely penetrating them […]

June 1, 2020, Gulf Of Mexico Jabiru J250-SP LSA The private pilot departed with slightly less than 36 gallons of fuel aboard for the 262-nm flight, portions of which were over water. About 1.5 hours into the flight, he noticed that the fuel tank quantities were dropping rapidly. The engine subsequently lost all power, and […]