Collisions

At 09:50 PST, an amateur-built Questair Venture and a Bellanca 8GCBC collided near Sylmar, The Questair was maneuvering to land at Van Nuys, and the Bellanca was operating as a pipeline patrol flight and was orbiting over a construction site near the point of the collision. Both aircraft were in contact with the Van Nuys Air Traffic Control Tower. The pilot and passenger on each plane were killed. The Bellanca pilot contacted the Van Nuys control tower at 09:42, saying, Newhall Pass. Well be here for about five minutes. The tower approved the request and assigned a transponder code, which the pilot verified. The airplane was orbiting in left turns at 2,000 feet msl over a construction sit…

At about 14:30 EST, a Piper PA-28-236 and a Cessna 172M collided near Parkertown. None of the three occupants was injured. The pilot of the Piper said he was level at 3,300 feet and flying north when he felt a bump. He thought he hit a bird and returned to his departure airport, Lorain County Regional Airport. The airplane had a tire mark on top of the fuselage and damage to the vertical stabilizer. The pilot did not recall seeing the Cessna at all. The Cessna pilot said he departed from Sandusky, Ohio, and was climbing through 3,300 feet for 3,500 feet when he noticed a vertical fin just slightly to the right of the airplane. The pilot said there was no time to take evasive action. After im…

At 17:29 PST, a Cessna 172N and a Piper PA-28-140 collided in mid-air while in the traffic pattern at Palm Springs. The two instructors and three students involved were not injured. The Cessna had been cleared for closed right traffic on runway 31R and was in a turn from crosswind to downwind. The Piper had been cleared into the airport traffic area and told to report two miles out on a 45-degree entry to the downwind for runway 31R. The tower controller had advised the Cessna of a Piper inbound from the northwest, and the Piper had been told of two Cessnas in right closed traffic. The Piper failed to make a position report as instructed. The airplanes collided at about 1,500 feet msl opposi…

At 07:48 CST, a Cessna 182M and a Cessna 208B collided in mid-air near McAlester Regional Airport. The pilot of the 182 was killed but the pilot of the Caravan was not injured. The pilot of the 182 had elected to divert to McAlester after getting an in-flight weather report that called for icing along his route of flight. The Caravan was departing when the pilot heard the 182 pilot call Unicom for an airport advisory. The Caravan pilot gave him the winds and active runway and heard no further transmissions. The Caravan was departing the pattern on an extended downwind when he saw the 182 making what appeared to be a normal crosswind to downwind turn. The Caravan pilot rolled right and descen…

At 18:20 CDT, a Cessna 152 and a Cessna 182L collided in flight near Noble. Both aircraft were destroyed and both pilots were killed. The private pilot of the Cessna 152 departed Westheimer Airport at approximately 18:00 on a local solo instructional flight. He was scheduled to fly the airplane in the local training area and practice commercial flight maneuvers. The commercial pilot of the Cessna 182 departed Westheimer Airport at approximately 18:15 on a personal cross-country flight to Sherman, Texas….

At about 10:45 EDT, two Avions Mudry CAP-10Bs operated by French Connection Airshows as an airshow practice flight, collided in flight and crashed at the Flagler County Airport. Both aircraft were destroyed and both pilots were killed. The formation flight departed about 15 minutes before the accident. According to eyewitnesses and examination of a videotape of the flight, the team had performed a formation hammerhead stall that terminates with the wingman rolling 180 degrees while the team is in their nose-down vertical recovery from the stall (essentially belly-to-belly), and an immediate pull-out that results in a formation split into flight paths 180 degrees apart. The accident occurred…

At 15:00 Pacific time, a Piper PA-25-260 struck a fence while trying to tow a glider from a dirt field. The pilot was not injured. The glider had made a precautionary landing in the field when the pilot reported losing lift. He contacted a local soaring club and requested an aero-tow out of the field. The Pawnee pilot paced off 1,600 feet, which he calculated would be enough for the airplane and glider to take off. When the tow plane struck the fence, the glider released, cleared the tow plane by 2 to 4 feet, traveled across a road and collided with another fence. The glider pilot was also uninjured….

At 10:33 Pacific time, a Cessna 172L collided with a Cessna 182P while taxiing on taxiway A-4 at Snohomish County Airport. Neither pilot was injured. The pilot of the 172 said he was taxiing forward in a line of aircraft and stopped his aircraft about 10-15 feet behind the Skylane directly ahead. As he waited for his turn, he focused his attention on setting up radio frequencies for his upcoming flight. When he looked up, he noted that his aircraft was rolling forward. He applied brakes and right rudder, which swung the nose of his aircraft to the right, but not before the propeller struck the 182s right horizontal stabilizer and elevator….

At about 11:41 eastern time, a Learjet 55 and and Extra EA-300S collided in flight about 2 miles southwest of the Boca Raton Airport. The three occupants of the Learjet were killed and the pilot of the Extra, U.S. Aerobatics Team member John Lillberg, was also killed. The Extra had departed Pompano Beach Airpark about four minutes before the collision and the Learjet departed runway 23 at Boca about 1 minute 30 seconds before impact. The Extra was cruising at 2,400 feet on a heading of 341 when the Learjet took off. As it climbed out, the Learjet turned to a heading of 269. Shortly before the collision, the Extra turned to a heading of 360. A witness said the Extra appeared to begin an evas…

At about 11:00 Pacific time, a Cessna 172K taxied into a Beech 58 at the Palo Alto Airport. The Cessna pilot was attempting to taxi around the stationary Beech, which was holding on a taxiway leading to runway 31. The Cessnas left wing passed over the right wing of the Baron and struck the Barons spinning propeller. No one was injured….