Aviation Safety

The airplane was substantially damaged during landing but the private pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The pilot reported he was taking the airplane to a maintenance facility to have the tailwheel examined to determine the cause of a shimmy that had developed. He performed a three-point landing. During rollout, the rudder pedals began to “shudder violently.”

At 1115 Eastern time, the airplane experienced a loss of control during an approach for landing. Visual conditions prevailed. The private pilot was killed. A witness observed the accident seaplane on a slow climbout with a high angle of attack. It appeared to the witness as if the pilot was hanging the aircraft on the prop. The seaplane barely cleared the trees at the edge of the lake and made a left climbing turn as if the pilot was trying to gain altitude.

The airplane sustained a loss of engine power and was ditched at about 1205 Eastern time. Visual conditions prevailed. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the private pilot and passenger were not injured. While preparing to land, the pilot moved the propeller control to the low pitch position and applied carburetor heat, but the engine quit. He immediately removed carburetor heat engine power was not restored.

At about 0604 Mountain time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain adjacent to a building while on final approach. The solo commercial pilot was killed. Visual conditions prevailed. The cross-country flight originated about three minutes prior to the accident, with Tennessee as its intended destination. Preliminary review of recorded ATC communications revealed that, about 34 seconds after being cleared for takeoff, the pilot transmitted, “I need to return to close the door.”

The airplane was substantially damaged during an off-airport forced landing at about 1424 Pacific time. The pilot received minor injuries. After departing with full fuel and flying about two hours in cruise at 9500 feet msl, the pilot detected irregularities with the indicated fuel quantities for some of the fuel tanks. He switched fuel tanks several times, but soon thereafter the engine quit, and he executed a gear-up forced landing in the desert.

At about 0920 Eastern time, the descended into a house. Visual conditions prevailed. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a post-crash fire. The commercial pilot and airline transport pilot safety pilot were killed. The house was destroyed but the occupant of the house was not injured.

The pilot stated he received an IFR clearance for a night GPS approach at his destination airport. Upon reaching the final approach fix, he turned on the landing lights, lowered the landing gear and extended the flaps to the full-down position. He observed both alternator lights flicker, then remain illuminated. He continued the approach and flared the airplane higher than normal

The single engine, turbine-powered, amphibious float-equipped airplane sustained substantial damage at about 1445 Alaska time when it impacted mountainous tree-covered terrain. Of the nine people aboard, the airline transport pilot and four passengers died at the scene. Four passengers sustained serious injuries. At the time of the accident, marginal visual conditions were reported at an airport about 18 miles south of the accident site.

Weve all been through enough ground school to know and understand that high ambient outside temperatures adversely impact aircraft performance. The relationship between temperature and altitude, of course, is termed density altitude, which describes a locations pressure altitude adjusted for temperature. To put it another way, density altitude is your elevation when measured in terms of the density of the air rather than height above sea level. It can be higher or lower than your actual altitude above sea level.

Whenever were in a single, and sometimes with twins, where wed land in event of engine failure should be a conscious thought. The usual answer is the nearest airport, something facilitated in personal aircraft several years ago by Loran navigators, and carried forward with their GPS-based successors. Having been there, done that, I know theres a wide range of emotions, thoughts and priorities going through a pilots mind when power production stops and theres an urgent need to land somewhere-anywhere!-right now.