Aviation Safety

At 1727 Eastern time, the airplane collided with terrain during an off-airport forced landing. The airplane sustained a loss of engine power shortly after takeoff. The private pilot was not injured; three passengers sustained minor injuries.

Automation is a routine part of our lives now, dictated by sweeping new technologies and consumer preferences. Arguably, the trend toward automation began in aviation in the 1970s. It has been debated and resisted by many in the aviation community, but the game has recently changed for both the airlines and general aviation. Yet, our culture is still firmly grounded in the Lindbergh white scarf era, aided and abetted by a pilot training system with roots traceable to the period just after that epic flight.

You wouldn’t think that two common landing-phase accidents at opposite ends of the runway would have same root cause and the same corrective technique. Landing short (impacting terrain or obstacles just prior to the runway) and landing long (touching down at a point where the aircraft cannot be stopped before running off the end of the runway) account for six percent of all landing accidents, according to AOPA’s Air Safety Institute. Remove loss of directional control on the runway from the picture, plus touchdowns prior to the runway, and those extending beyond the far end of the landing surface account for almost one-fifth of the remaining reports.

The hangar conversation followed lines one expects on a gusty, blustery, bombastic-air day—with turbulence the topic of the moment. “As soon as Flight Service passed on that Pirep about moderate-to-heavy turbulence ahead, I slowed to VB,” explained the ATP cooling off with some colleagues after his heavy day flying a FAR 23 business jet. “Told the boss she we needed to live with slower or risk not outliving the air.”

Automation is a routine part of our lives now, dictated by sweeping new technologies and consumer preferences. Arguably, the trend toward automation began in aviation in the 1970s. It has been debated and resisted by many in the aviation community, but the game has recently changed for both the airlines and general aviation. Yet, our culture is still firmly grounded in the Lindbergh white scarf era, aided and abetted by a pilot training system with roots traceable to the period just after that epic flight.

My experience took place in July 2007. It involved me and some friends on a long VFR cross-country flight from Leonardstown, Md., to Vero Beach, Fla., in my Piper Archer.

A casting crack was found visually during the course of an annual inspection. The crack is located on the forward end of the support casting (p/n 07416031), starting 0.25 inches from the outboard mount holes and ends within 0.25 inches of the mount holes on the inboard side of the casting.

I am glad to see attention given to single-engine overwater flights (“One If By Land, Two If By Sea?” June 2012). As a frequent traveler to the Bahamas in my 1981 Beech Sierra, this is of particular interest to me.

At about 1515 Central time, the airplane experienced a loss of engine power shortly after departure. The commercial pilot and six passengers were not injured; the airplane sustained substantial damage during the forced landing. Visual conditions prevailed.

The pilot lost control shortly after takeoff from a private airstrip and crashed into a wooded area at about 1600 Central time. Visual conditions prevailed. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the solo private pilot was fatally injured.