Aviation Safety

At 1651 central time, a Pilatus PC-6 crashed following an uncontrolled descent approximately 14 miles northeast of Vigo Park. The pilot bailed out and was not injured. The pilot said he was in cruise flight at 12,500 feet msl, the airplane experienced clear air turbulence. The pilot stated he reduced the throttle to idle and initiated a decent. Subsequently, the airplane pitched nose down to a nearly vertical attitude. The pilot said he accidentally placed the throttle into a reverse pitch state, and was unable to bring the power back up. After the airplane attained a rate of descent of 12,000 feet per minute, the pilot bailed out and deployed his parachute….

At approximately 0815 Pacific time, the pilot of an experimental Petz Flying Boat lost control and crashed about 660 feet south of New Jerusalem Airport. The pilot was killed. Circumstances of the crash are uncertain. The NTSB report lists an inaccurate estimated time of departure, so it is unclear whether the airplane crashed on takeoff or was returning at the time of the accident. Family members said this was the first flight of the airplane, which was designed and built by the pilot….

At approximately 1630, a Cessna 650 suffered failure of its right wing aileron cable while in cruise flight at FL390 approximately 200 miles southeast of Rapid City. The airplane landed without further incident. The pilot reported the airplane was in cruise flight with the autopilot engaged when it suddenly rolled to the right. He disconnected the autopilot and rolled wings level, noting that it took left control wheel deflection to maintain wings level. Initial inspection revealed the right aileron cable failed near the outboard pulley just prior to the bellcrank….

At about 1146 eastern time, a Piper PA-25-235 and a Robinson R22 Beta collided in flight at North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport. The pilot of the Piper sustained serious injuries. The flight instructor and pilot-rated student of the Robinson helicopter both sustained minor injuries. The pilot of the glider being towed by the Pawnee released and landed uneventfully. The helicopter instructor said she announced on the common frequency that she would be making a 180-degree autorotation to runway 8L. She said she saw the Pawnee and glider in position and holding on runway 8L. She continued the autorotation and recovered to a hover, at which time she felt the impact. The Pawnee pilot…

At 0001 central time, a Beech BE-76 was damaged during a loss of control while in cruise flight near Hammond. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was IFR en route from Watertown, S.D., to Moline, Ill., at 7,000 feet when the pilot saw a lightning flash and encountered severe turbulence. The pilot said he pulled back on the yoke to maintain assigned altitude when the airplane went into a spin. He recovered the airplane at about 3,000 msl, returned to level flight and climbed back to his assigned altitude. After an uneventful landing, he discovered damage to the airplanes wings….

At about 1648 eastern time, a Piper PA-31 suffered a loss of control and crashed at Clearwater Air Park. The pilot-in-command seated in the right front seat and the pilot-rated passenger in the left front seat were killed. A pilot-rated passenger sustained serious injuries. A witness said he saw the airplane on what he thought was final approach to runway 16, but the airplane was very low. The witness reported the airplane made a, sudden, sharp turn to the left. Another witness who was located a quarter-mile from the accident site said the airplane was flying eastbound at a very slow airspeed and banking and yawing left and right. He said it appeared the pilot was executing a go-around…

At approximately 1045 Pacific time, a Lancair LC41, prototype for the Lancair 400, crashed about 15 miles east of Bend during spin testing. The pilot bailed out and was not injured. The pilot had been conducting a series of spin entry and recovery tests, and had intentionally entered a fully developed spin. During the final spin, the flight controls were insufficient to recover, so he deployed the spin recovery/stabilization drogue parachute. After he recovered from the spin, he was unable to jettison the drogue chute with either the manual or backup system. He attempted to establish controlled flight with the chute attached, but was unable. He then bailed out. Initial examination of the wre…

At 1529 eastern time, a Piper PA-46-310P crashed while trying to return to the airport shortly after takeoff from Hilton Head Airport. The pilot and passenger were killed. The pilot took off and, four minutes later, declared an emergency on the airports common traffic advisory frequency. The pilot said he was making an immediate return. One witness heard the CTAF broadcast mention something about a cover off and said the airplane was trailing what appeared to be smoke from the left wing tip only. Initial examination of the airplane, which was modified to use a turboprop engine, showed the left inboard fuel cap was missing. It was found in the grass beside the departure runway….

Computer-based flight sims may help you stay sharp, but dont expect miracles. Bad habits may come back to haunt you

Keep these five high-performance tricks for emergencies, yeah, but theyll sharpen your daily flying as well