Aviation Safety

At about 14:28 EST, a Schweizer 269C helicopter was destroyed during a forced landing, killing the commercial pilot/police officer and seriously injuring the aerial observer. The helicopter was operated by the Baltimore Police Department Helicopter Unit and was performing an official police mission at the time of the accident. Witnesses said the rotor was spinning slowly as the helicopter descended and reported hearing a loud pop and seeing smoke trailing from the helicopter. A 2-inch hole was found on the bottom of the engine casing near the number 2 cylinder and a 4-inch hole was found on the top of the casing for the same cylinder. The engine, a HIO-360-D1A, manufactured by Textron Lycomi…

At about 13:51 Alaska standard time, a Cessna 172 was damaged while landing at the Bethel Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot told investigators that she had departed the accident airport under a special VFR clearance and encountered severe icing conditions. At that time she elected to return to the Bethel airport. She said that forward visibility was restricted due to heavy ice build-up on the airplanes windscreen, requiring her to do a series of S turns to find the airport. She reported that just prior to touchdown the airplane stalled and the airplane landed hard in a nose low attitude. I just got into icing conditions. Thats what caused it, she said….

At 10:45 PST, a Piper PA-46 crashed during takeoff from runway 09 at the Mammoth Lakes airport. Two occupants were seriously injured and two suffered only minor injuries. The airport manager said the aircraft took off prematurely and over-rotated to a nose high attitude. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft hit the ground tail first. The aircraft veered off the side of the 7,000-foot-long runway and came to rest on a taxiway. The pilot told the manager that he stalled on takeoff. Examination of the elevator trim tab and the elevator trim position indicator in the cockpit revealed a full nose up trim….

At 13:10 CST, a Cessna 150H was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Conway. The pilot and her passenger were not injured. The flight originated from the pilots private airstrip approximately 5 minutes prior to the accident. The pilot reported that, as part of a local orientation flight for her passenger, she intended to land at the Dennis F. Cantrell Field Airport. On a long final approach for runway 25, while the airplane was descending through 1,600 feet msl, she noted that the rate of descent was higher than she anticipated. She tried to add power, but the engine did not respond to throttle movements. Because the airplane was over a residen…

At 11:15 PST, a DeHavilland Tiger Moth DH 82A and a Cessna 152 collided on a taxiway at the Petaluma airport. Both aircraft sustained substantial damage but neither pilot was injured. The pilot of the Tiger Moth told investigators that he had just landed on runway 29 and had turned onto the taxiway. Approximately halfway down the taxiway his aircraft collided with the Cessna, which was being operated by a student pilot. The student pilot stated that he had attempted to raise the other pilot on the radio but received no response….

At 15:49 EST, the pilot of a Cessna 310R was killed when the airplane struck the ground in Kearny. The pilot took off from runway 24 at 15:42:46, after which the pilot departed to the southeast. At 15:46:01, the pilot told controllers, Im having a problem here, no elevator control, I want to come back for a landing or at least attempt [to return for a landing]. The local controller cleared the flight for a left down wind for runway 24. The local controller inquired about the problem the pilot was experiencing and at 15:46:31, the pilot reported, I have no elevator control sir. I just need to [be] able to go into Class B [airspace], if [I] need to. No further transmissions were received…

At about 18:20 EST, a Boeing 737-3TO operated by Continental Airlines as flight 1924 suffered a twisted right main landing gear while landing at Newark International Airport. There were no injuries. The airplane had landed on runway 4R and was on its landing roll when a vibration was felt. The airplane was stopped on the runway and was examined by emergency personnel. The lower portion of the right main landing gear had rotated about 45 degrees to the right….

At about 11:30 CST, an amateur built Vari-eze nosed over at Tupelo Municipal Airport. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane had departed Tupelo Municipal Airport about 10 minutes before to the accident. The pilot said that he was landing when a gust of wind caught the aircraft. He overcorrected and the airplane nosed over. No mechanical discrepancies were noted with the aircraft. During a review of the applicable records, investigators discovered that the last annual inspection recorded was in 1987. The aircraft had no airworthiness certificate, nor did the pilot have a current flight review….

At approximately 19:15 CST, a Beech B19 crashed near Hobart, killing the pilot and passenger. A pilot witness described the weather as IMC and foggy at the time of the flight, which originated about 15 minutes before the crash. The accident pilot was not instrument rated and no flight plan had been filed. The airport manager said the airport beacon was on and that someone had activated the pilot-controlled runway lights prior to the accident. The aircraft was destroyed by a post-impact fire….

Approximately 10:30 CST, a PA-23-235 was landed without incident by a pilot-rated passenger when the owner/pilot collapsed while on a practice VOR approach to the Mineral Wells Airport. The owner died, but the two other occupants were uninjured. The right front seat passenger was a 600 hour pilot rated passenger with no twin experience. The passenger in the back seat contacted Mineral Wells Unicom and arranged for a multi-engine rated pilot to talk down the flying passenger. The plane landed without further incident. An autopsy and toxicology was performed on the owner and results are pending….