Other

At about 1015 eastern time, a Rockwell 112A burned after a forced landing near Hanscom Field. The two pilots received minor injuries. The pilots reported being in cruise flight when they noticed smoke in the cockpit. The shut down the electrical system, and then the engine began to vibrate. They shut down the engine so it wouldnt vibrate off the frame and then noted a fire had started in the engine compartment. The pilots opted to land on a flat area on the Concord River floodplain, but the airplane hit the tops of trees about 100 yards prior to reaching the floodplain, and a tree bent over and deposited the airplane on the ground upright. The airplane was consumed by fire….

At 0854 Pacific time, a Wing Aircraft D-1 crashed in the desert about 11 nm from Rosamond. The ATP certificated instructor and student pilot were killed. The student was enrolled in a preparatory course at a civilian test pilot school prior to beginning an 11-month-long test pilot program. The accident flight was part of the courses multiengine aircraft familiarization training and, according to the lesson plan and flight card, was to include stalls and Vmc maneuvers. Investigators used airport surveillance radar from the High Desert Tracon at Edwards AFB to identify the flight track of the accident airplane. The airplanes track indicated maneuvers between 6,000 and 5,200 feet msl over 2,6…

At about 0630 Pacific time, an Iniziative Industriali Sky Arrow 650 TC crashed on takeoff from the Placerville Airport. The pilot was killed. An arriving aircraft spotted the airplane wreckage off a steep slope on the southern side of runway 23 at about 1100. Rescue crews found the airplane 100 yards down the slope where it had collided with a large oak tree. The flight control surfaces were in working order and there was fuel in the tanks. According to the Airport Operations Officer, the accident pilot usually left Placerville early on Monday mornings for the San Francisco Bay area. Local pilots said that there was heavy frost and light ice on other planes at the airport during the early mo…

At about 1930 Pacific time, a passenger was seriously injured by walking into a moving propeller while disembarking from an OMF-100-160 at Van Nuys Airport. The passengers arm was broken in two places and the pilot was not injured. The airplane sustained minor damage. The pilot taxied the airplane to the base of the tower after landing. The passenger got out of the airplane and walked into the propeller. The operator of the aircraft reported that he was not informed of the accident by the pilot, but discovered a nick on the propeller the day following the accident and could not determined its origination. The accident pilot began his training at the flight school, but then changed schools….

At about 1115 eastern time, a Fleet 16B was destroyed when it impacted water following low-level maneuvering about one mile south of Fishers Island. The pilot and passenger were presumed killed. The accident airplane had departed Westerly, Rhode Island, about 15 minutes prior to the accident as one of a flight of three airplanes. The other airplanes in the flight were a Citabria and an RV-8. The pilot of the Citabria said he was flying in formation with the Fleet while a passenger in the RV-8 took photographs. Two witnesses in boats described the maneuvers of the two airplanes as like they were performing in an air show or like they were dog fighting. Both witnesses described steep turns…

At 1116 Pacific time, a Lockheed P2V was destroyed when it collided with a hillside while maneuvering in mountainous terrain. The ATP-rated pilot and ATP-rated copilot were both killed. A VFR flight plan had been filed for the cross-country positioning flight from Prescott, Ariz. to San Bernardino, Calif. Instrument conditions prevailed at the accident site, about seven miles from the destination airport. Two witness in a forest lookout tower at about 7,900 feet elevation, one of whom was pilot-rated, described a cloud layer that extended south as far as they could see. They estimated the cloud tops at 5,000 feet. The witnesses observed the airplane flying northward up a canyon near the edge…

At about 1145 Pacific time, an Avions Max Holste MH 1521 Broussard stalled during takeoff from Gillespie Field and was substantially damaged in the hard landing that followed. The pilot and three passengers were not injured. The pilot reported that several airplanes were waiting for takeoff. Abandoning his usual procedure of lining up on the centerline and then releasing the brakes after obtaining 2,500 rpm, he expedited his takeoff roll. When the tail wheel did not lift as expected, the pilot tried to add nose down trim but before he could do so, the airplane ballooned about eight feet into the air. Subsequently the aircraft bounced and the right wingtip collided with the ground. The left g…

At 1730 eastern time, an amateur-built Velox Revolution II struck a hangar during attempted recovery from an aerobatic maneuver at Lake Norman Airpark. The pilot received minor injuries. He said he entered a flat spin at 4,000 feet but kept the airplane in the flat spin too long. When he realized he had insufficient altitude to recover the airplane normally or to bail out, he raised the nose to a vertical attitude and applied full power. The airplane then collided with a hangar and was destroyed in the post-crash fire….

At 1600 central time, the experimental, exhibition Wright Redux Association 1903 Wright Flyer stalled on takeoff about 30 feet above the runway and landed hard at Clow International Airport. The pilot was uninjured and the airplane received substantial damage….

At about 1817 central time, a WWII vintage General Motors FM-2 Wildcat warbird airplane was destroyed following an in-flight loss of control near Ellington Field while participating in the Wings Over Houston air show. The pilot was killed. Witnesses observed the accident airplane at approximately 200 feet agl, trailing a twin-engine bomber on approach to the airport. The Wildcat had executed a series of 360-degree steep turns for spacing. During its last turn the aircraft pitched up, then descended in a partial spin before colliding with the ground about a quarter-mile from the approach end of the runway. A witness reported that the propeller was turning and the engine did not appear to have…