Accident Probes

All pilots have had them, those flights where you make a little mistake and it goes unnoticed for a long time.

Maybe its leaving the gear down until you get to cruise, and only then figuring out why the airspeed is so low. Perhaps you left the transponder on standby and didnt correct it until a gentle reminder crackled over the headset. And some people have been known to forget to turn off the autopilot, which makes a traffic pattern a difficult thing to fly.

The point is that minor problems rarely turn into major ones, because usually theyre caught in time. And even if theyre not caught until the airplane lands, there are few such mistakes that carry severe penalties. Occasional…

At approximately 12:10 PDT, a Vanek gyroplane and an unregistered ultralight collided in mid-air at the Scappoose airport. The two occupants of the gyroplane and the ultralights pilot were killed. Witnesses said the ultralight was taking off from the runway and the gyroplane was descending to land on the parallel taxiway when they collided….

At 15:00 CDT, an F4U Corsair collided with a Grumman Bearcat on runway 18 at Wittman Regional Airport. The F4U-4 Corsair was destroyed and the pilot seriously injured. The Bearcat was substantially damaged but the pilot suffered no injuries. The pilot of the F4U-5 Corsair suffered minor injuries. At the time of the collision, the Bearcat was stationary on the runway about 1,400 feet from the departure end with its engine at idle power. The F4U-4 was at full power on takeoff roll and struck the Bearcat from behind. The F4U-5 was on takeoff roll in formation with the F4U-4. It sustained substantial damage when the pilot saw a second Grumman Bearcat on the runway in front of his aircraft and el…

At about 16:45 EST, a Piper PA-28-161 and a Cessna 152 collided while on final approach to land at the Plant City Airport. The two airplanes stuck together, with the Cessna on the bottom. The instructor aboard the Cessna successfully landed the two planes in the grass adjacent to runway 10. The two airplanes suffered only minor damage and no one was injured. The pilot of the Piper was flying from Melbourne to Plant City and the Cessnas student pilot was practicing touch-and-go landings. Both pilots said they were announcing their positions and both turned base to final at approximately the same time. The two airplanes collided as they crossed the airport boundary fence….

At 16:00 CDT, two Beech D-45s (T-34s), part of the Lima Lima Flying Squadron, collided during a practice flight. One aircraft crashed, killing the pilot. The other was damaged but made a safe landing at Aurora Municipal Airport. The airplanes were part of a six-ship delta formation performing a non-aerobatic maneuver called a pop top break….

At about 07:30 CDT, a Continental Tomcat MK5A and a Texas Helicopter OH-13E collided in flight over a field in Heflin. Both pilots were killed. Both helicopters were registered to the same company and were performing agricultural operations. Witnesses said the OH-13 was flying south about 150 feet above the ground spraying herbicides. The Tomcat had just taken off from a flatbed truck and climbed to clear a stand of 100-foot trees. It then turned east into the sun and the two helicopters collided. Neither aircraft took evasive action….

At about 14:50 EST, a Cessna 172P and a Cessna 172R collided in flight on approach to Fitchburg Municipal Airport. The pilot of the 172P was killed and the student pilot in the 172R suffered serious injuries. According to several witnesses, the airplanes were on the final approach segment to the airport when the student pilots airplane overtook the private pilots airplane and struck it on the right side. The two airplanes locked together and made a slow, 180-degree turn while descending rapidly to the ground about 2,000 feet from the approach end of runway 32. The left landing gear strut of the student pilots airplane was embedded in the right side of the private pilots airplane. A sun p…

At about 17:15 EDT, a Boeing Stearman E-75 and a Taylorcraft BC12-D collided while they were both landing on runway 28 at the Farmers Pride Airport. None of the three aboard the two planes was injured. Neither pilot saw the other airplane until the two collided just as the Taylorcraft was touching down. The pilot of the Stearman had 156 hours with 26 hours in make and model, and the pilot of the Taylorcraft had 158 hours with 9 hours in make and model….

At 10:55 MDT, a United Express Beech 1900D and a Beech King Air struck each other while taxiing at Denver International Airport. No one was hurt. The United Express flight had landed and the King Air was taxiing for takeoff. The United Express pilot said he saw the King Air on his left side and applied maximum braking and full right pedal. The captain said it did not appear to him that the King Air pilot either saw him or slowed. The King Air departed Denver prior to the arrival of an FAA inspector and attempts to contact the pilot have been unsuccessful….

At 13:20 PDT, a Cessna 172P and an RV-6A collided in mid-air about six miles east of Pangborn Memorial Airport. Both aircraft received minor damage but the two occupants of the Cessna and the pilot of the RV-6A were uninjured. The Cessna had departed from Wenatchee about one hour prior to the collision for the local instructional flight and the RV-6A had just taken off from Wenatchee. The Cessna was on the VOR-A approach to Wenatchee, inbound on the 285 degree radial and near the final approach fix. The instructor was just about to announce their location and intentions on the Unicom frequency. The pilot of the RV-6A reported that he had announced his departure from runway 30 on Unicom, made…