Aviation Safety

The mission was a relatively short weekend hop for my Comanche 250. Prior to departing, I called Flight Service, learned it would be a beautiful VFR day and filed an IFR flight plan. My two passengers, one of whom was taking her first flight in a personal aircraft, and I departed on schedule and had an uneventful flight. Until we prepared to land. Nearing the destination, I was vectored to the downwind for a visual approach to the towered airport and began performing a GUMP check before landing. I pushed the toggle switch to lower the gear but nothing happened. I checked the circuit breakers. They were all okay. I hit the toggle again—and nothing happened again. I told the tower the landing gear did not come down and we would fly straight-out and lower the gear manually. They asked if I wanted to declare an emergency. I replied, “Not at present.”

The landing gear would not retract after takeoff, or extend when gear down was selected. The emergency gear extension handle was pulled, but it broke off in the pilot’s hand. The aircraft was landed gear-up. Troubleshooting revealed that the cable broke at the base of the handle.

Each of us flies for different reasons. Many pilots started (or continue) as enthusiasts interested in airplanes as recreational machines. Others learned to fly as a prelude to a career in the cockpit. For many, aircraft primarily are a means of transportation for business or personal reasons. In fact, if I did not require an airplane for travel, I would not bother to fly any more. If you seek to use general aviation aircraft for travel, I believe a special approach to safety—implemented through targeted training and consistent flight operations—is required, especially if you are trying to meet any kind of schedule. Unfortunately, our training and operating procedures generally don’t prepare us for these flights. It is possible, however, to achieve high levels of safe utility, even with single-engine piston aircraft, if you employ a few simple techniques to achieve efficiency and reliability while managing risk.

As you should know, the international consortium concerned with relaying electronic distress signals stopped monitoring the 121.5 MHz frequency on February 1, 2009, in favor of emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) and other devices transmitting on 406 MHz. Since the FAA does not require operators to upgrade to the new standard, the practical impact of this action was to obsolete older ELTs and make it more difficult to find a downed aircraft lacking the 406 MHz technology. In 2011, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) proposed prohibiting use of an ELT capable of transmitting only on 121.5 MHz (the 406 MHz ELT standard includes 121.5 MHz signals). Mayhem ensued, and the FCC eventually backed down, in part thanks to FAA and AOPA input.

I enjoyed reading Dr. Michael Banner’s article, “Riding The Storm Out,” in January’s issue. It was highly enlightening and well-written. I will now adopt the VB speed after reading the article. However, I would like to ask what pilots should do in those cases when turbulence is unanticipated. For example, what is a pilot to do when all of a sudden he/she enters an area of clear air turbulence or sudden severe disturbances in the surrounding air mass? I understand that convention has it that clear air turbulence occurs most commonly at higher altitudes. Nevertheless, are there some pearls of wisdom for us if we are travelling at cruise speeds and suddenly encounter increased G forces? Also, after flying through turbulence, how do we know if we have possibly endangered the plane’s physical structure (for future flights), but not quite to the point of “breaking it”?

The experimental, amateur-built airplane was substantially damaged when it broke up in flight at about 1318 Eastern time. The airline transport pilot was fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed. According to FAA radar data, the airplane was in cruise flight for approximately 19 minutes before contact was lost. About one minute before going off radar, the airplane was cruising at 8300 feet msl. Then, the airplane was observed descending to 7200 feet before radar contact was lost. The airplane impacted a sugarcane field, with its fuselage coming to rest inverted on a heading of 315 degrees.

At about 1030 Eastern time, the experimental, amateur-built airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during a forced landing following a partial loss of engine power. The commercial pilot in the front seat and the airline transport pilot in the rear were seriously injured. Visual conditions prevailed. About five minutes after departing and while cruising at about 3000 feet msl, the airplane’s engine lost power, but continued to run with very low output. The front-seat pilot attempted remedial actions, to no avail. The rear-seat pilot then took control of the airplane and turned towards a nearby airport. Shortly before reaching the divert runway, the rear-seat pilot heard a loud “bang”:

The airplane bounced twice during landing. The pilot then added full throttle for a go-around and the airplane began to drift to the left side of the runway centerline. As the airplane began to climb, the pilot retracted gear and flaps. The airplane’s nose then pitched up and the right wingtip struck the runway surface. The airplane veered sharply to the right and impacted terrain on the right side of the runway. The impact resulted in the collapse of the landing gear and substantial damage to the engine mount, firewall, fuselage and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported there was no mechanical malfunction or failure and that he just failed to maintain control of the airplane.

At about 1819 Eastern time, the airplane collided with terrain while executing an RNAV (GPS) approach. The instrument-rated private pilot and three passengers were fatally injured. Instrument conditions existed; an IFR flight plan was in effect. Prior to the arrival of the accident airplane, a friend of the pilot flew the same flight in a similarly-equipped airplane. The friend never broke out of the clouds, performed a missed approach and diverted to an alternate airport.

The airplane sustained minor damage and a student pilot received a serious ground injury when his left arm came into contact with the propeller following engine start at about 1315 Eastern time. The CFI was not injured; visual meteorological conditions prevailed. After practicing touch-and-go landings, the CFI and student performed a full-stop landing, taxied to the ramp and shut down the airplane. About 15 minutes later, both pilots returned to the airplane for another flight; however, the airplane’s battery was depleted and the engine would not start.