Aviation Safety

When To Use The Gear
With respect to When To Use The Gear (March 2006), thanks for an excellent article! What has worked best for me is the approach and landing profile in the FAAs Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3A, <www.faa.gov/library/manuals) specifically intended for multiengine flying, but equally useful in flying complex airplanes.

I conduct at least two landing gear checks on every approach and landing! The first one is made on the base leg, which tells me it is okay to continue the approach. The second is done on final, telling me its okay to continue to a landing. Perform as many more landing-gear…

Selected recent general aviation and air carrier accidents

At 1317 Eastern time, the aircrafts right main landing gear collapsed during the landing roll; the airplane came to rest in the mud on the right side of the runway. The Commercial pilot and copilot were uninjured; the airplane sustained substantial damage. According to the flight crew, after takeoff they could not get the right gear to fully retract. The crew declared an emergency and proceeded to land. Examination of the right main landing gear found the upper portion of the gear trunnion fractured and pulled out of the forward wing spar. Damage to the wing consisted of the forward spar, and the flap….

The airplane entered an uncontrolled descent and impacted terrain at about 1500 Mountain time, killing the Student pilot, its sole occupant. The airplane was destroyed. Visual conditions prevailed. The Student pilot was flying her third solo flight of the flight training syllabus. The student was to depart, go to the Buckeye Airport, perform at least one landing, taxi back, and takeoff, then proceed to a practice area south of the departure airport, perform maneuvers and return….

At 2045 Eastern time, the airplane crashed while on final approach to Runway 23 at the Grand Strand Airport. Visual conditions prevailed. The Airline Transport-rated pilot, and five passengers received fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed. According to witnesses, the airplane made two approaches. During the first approach the airplane was observed fish-tailing while about 30 feet over the runway. The airplane appeared to regain control but continued flying over the runway until passing the control tower, at which time the airplane began a climbing left turn. The pilot told ATC that his left engine kept power up a little too much and would not come back. The witnesses observed the a…

The two airplanes collided in mid-air at approximately 2500 feet msl at 1653 Central time. One aircraft was destroyed by ground impact and fire; its pilot, co-pilot, and passenger were fatally injured. The other aircraft was substantially damaged but its crew made a successful emergency landing at nearby Dodge County Airport, Juneau, Wis. Visual conditions prevailed; both airplanes departed the General Mitchell International Airport. The flights were performed to verify the fuel flow rates for auxiliary fuel tanks that had been recently installed on both airplanes. Prior to departure, both flight crews decided that they would join up after departure in order to take video and still photograp…

At about 1324 Central time the aircraft sustained substantial damage on impact with terrain following an in-flight loss of control during a climb in instrument conditions. The Instrument-rated Private pilot and passenger reported no injuries. The flight originated from the Wagner Municipal Airport, near Wagner, S.D., at about 1315, and was en route to the Schaumburg Regional Airport, near Schaumburg, Ill….

The aircraft, operated as a Part 135 cargo flight, collided with the ground in a nose-down, near-vertical attitude at 1210 Central time. Visual conditions prevailed; the Airline Transport-rated pilot received fatal injuries and the airplane was destroyed. While in cruise flight at 16,000 feet, the pilot requested and was cleared to make a 360-degree turn to the left. Shortly afterward, the pilot requested a 360-degree turn to the right. The pilot then requested radar vectors to the closest airport and reported an asymmetric fuel condition. Controllers cleared the flight to 4000 feet. About a minute later the pilot transmitted Mayday six times and shortly after this radar and radio contact…

At about 0107 Eastern time, a DC-8 freighter operated by United Parcel Service landed at the Philadelphia International Airport after declaring an emergency due to smoke in the cockpit. The airplane was immediately engulfed in fire and the three flightcrew members evacuated the airplane via the cockpit window and L1 door slide. The flightcrew was not injured and the airplane was destroyed….

The two aircraft collided in flight approximately three miles south of the Gillespie Field Airport at 1642 Pacific time. Both aircraft were destroyed in the collision sequence and post-impact fires. The CFI and pilot undergoing instruction in the Cessna 172RG and the Private pilot/sole occupant of the Cessna 182Q were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed, and included high broken cloud cover with a visibility of 25 miles. A pilot-rated witness reported the two airplanes were flying at an estimated 1800 feet msl. One airplane was flying southwest; the other was flying east. The airplanes were in the Gillespie Field Class Delta airspace when the airplane flying eastbound impacted the a…