Aviation Safety

At 1058 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged while returning to land following an engine failure. The airline transport pilot incurred minor injuries. Visual conditions prevailed. According to the pilot, the airplane was based at a nearby airport. He had flown to the second airport to buy fuel and was on his way back to meet a passenger when the event began.

The airplane collided with a power line and impacted terrain about -mile short of the airport at about 1440 Pacific time. The airplane was substantially damaged. The solo private pilot was killed. Visual conditions prevailed. According to preliminary information, a piece of wire cable was found wrapped around the airplanes left main landing gear. The airplane came to rest in a field about 300 feet from the power line.

At approximately 0915 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged following a loss of power and subsequent forced landing. Visual conditions prevailed; the pilot and passenger were not injured. As the pilot turned the airplane from downwind to base, the engine stopped running. He made a successful off-field landing in a grass field approximately two miles from the airport. Shortly after landing, the engine began running again and the airplane started taxiing slowly.

The airplane was substantially damaged at about 1615 Eastern time during a forced landing after takeoff from a private airstrip. The commercial pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. Near the conclusion of the pre-flight inspection, a friend of the pilot stopped by, and they talked for about 20 minutes. During the conversation, fuel began running out of the right-wing fuel vent. After concluding the conversation, the pilot taxied the airplane to the end of the runway, performed a run-up and placed the fuel selector on the right main tank, in response to the venting fuel. The pilot did not note any abnormalities during the run-up.

During the preflight inspection, a small amount of hydraulic fluid was noticed by the trim wheel. In order to troubleshoot the problem, maintenance personnel removed the left front pilots seat and then reinstalled it when the problem was resolved. During the takeoff roll, after adding full power, the pilots seat abruptly slid to the full-back position, resulting in the airplane veering sharply to the left as the pilots feet left the rudder pedals. In an attempt to avoid hitting signage, the pilot lifted off, but then he heard something strike the airplane.

At 1206 Eastern time, the airplane was destroyed during an in-flight breakup. The commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed. A friend of the accident pilot, who is also a certificated aircraft mechanic, flew with the pilot in the accident airplane immediately prior to the accident flight and did not note any abnormalities with the performance of either the airplane or the pilot.

The airplane was destroyed at about 1945 Eastern time when it impacted water while maneuvering. The private pilot was fatally injured. Night visual conditions prevailed. A witness stated the pilot told her he was working on night recurrence training.

At about 1951 Mountain time, the airplane was destroyed when it impacted terrain following a loss of control. The private pilot and single passenger sustained fatal injuries. Night visual conditions prevailed; an IFR flight plan was filed with Santa Fe, N.M., as the intended destination.

Emergency locator transmitters (ELTs) are one piece of equipment airplane owners love to hate. They dont work very well and they always seem to need replacement batteries. And, beginning this month, satellite monitoring of 121.5 MHz ELTs will cease, instantly making what didnt work all that well to begin with next to useless. This turn of events should not come as a surprise, since the U.S. Department of Commerce first publicized the Cospas-Sarsat decision to stop monitoring 121.5 MHz in November 2000. Cospas-Sarsat, of course, is the international organization charged with maintaining and monitoring the satellites listening for distress signals from ELTs and other devices. For pilots and aircraft owners, one question is whether 121.5 MHZ equipment will continue to be adequate. Another is whether alternatives exist to upgrading to a new-technology ELT transmitting on 406 MHz, the frequency on which Cospas-Sarsat satellites will continue to listen. The answers arent that complicated. Lets first take a look at the two technologies, and then something in the way of an interim solution to have a 406 ELT on a 121.5 budget.

These pages often discuss the tricks and traps of night flying, stressing along the way the only real difference between doing it after the sun goes down instead of in the daytime is you often cant see too well. As a result, we have to depend less on the seat of our pants and more on the “system” to get us home. The good news is theres more “system” than ever before. Infrared vision entered the high-end business jet cockpit a few years ago; its already trickling down to turboprops and the occasional well-equipped piston. Meanwhile, innovations like the synthetic vision technology are available on Cirrus Design airplanes equipped with the Perspective avionics suite. Even without all these tools, using data from the IFR system-minimum en route altitudes, approach and departure procedures, for example-will help keep us out of the weeds, also. The bad news is we still make dumb mistakes at night. Some of those mistakes result from known limitations of the human eye and should be easy both to identify and overcome. Other mistakes are more subtle and, in a way, a related to the eyes shortcomings but primarily result from there being fewer visual cues at night, often when we need them most. Like when landing. Too often, nighttime mistakes take on an “if only” characteristic: If only the pilot had waited to begin that descent, or if only s/he realized the runway lights disappeared because there was a hill between them and the airplane. Throw in the fact most of us are not functioning with peak efficiency at night, that theres an urgency to get home and get in bed, or that many night flights take place after the pilot or crew have put in a full day of work-whether the work is flying or sitting at a desk doesnt matter-and really bad things can happen.