Aviation Safety

At 09:18 CST a Beech King Air collided with the ground following a missed approach to Cullman Airport. The pilot and passenger were killed. Shortly before the accident the airplane was cleared to fly an NDB approach to runway 20. The pilot then contacted ATC at Huntsville and informed them that he was executing a missed approach. The aircraft impacted the ground three miles northwest of the airport. Several witnesses stated that they could hear the airplane flying low over their homes but could not see it due to the foggy conditions….

About 18:00 EST, a Piper Aerostar was substantially damaged when it lost power and crashed while on approach to the Lynchburg Regional/Preston Glenn Field Airport. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane had just received an annual inspection and the pilot was returning from ferrying a maintenance pilot home. The airplane was on approach to runway 21 when the pilot radioed to the Lynchburg Air Traffic Control Tower that one of the airplanes engines had lost power. About 4 minutes later, the pilot reported that the airplanes second engine had lost power and declared an emergency. The airplane crashed about 4 miles northeast of LYH. Approximately 1.5 gallons of fuel was drained from th…

About 04:45 PST, all four occupants of a Beech Bonanza were killed when the airplane struck high terrain near Chino. The flight had originated at Corona, Calif., enroute to Lake Tahoe. The Chino airport reported visual conditions and a 1,100-foot overcast at the time of the accident. Radar data showed a target that initially headed west, turned north, and then made a 360-degree turn to the left. The initial recorded altitude of the target was 900 feet mean sea level (msl) and the last recorded altitude was 2,400 feet msl. The terrain around the crash site showed extensive fire damage. Preliminary examination of the wreckage indicated that the airplane struck the ground while in cruise config…

At 16:00 MST, a Cessna 172N was damaged during a forced landing in rough terrain 15 miles west of Prescott. The flight instructor and dual student were not injured but the airplane was substantially damaged. The flight schools safety officer said the flight instructor and student were conducting a simulated engine failure from approximately 3,500 feet agl when the student inadvertently shut the fuel selector off without the flight instructor noticing. At 500 feet agl, the flight instructor asked the student to do a go-around. There was no response when full throttle was applied, so the instructor took the controls and performed an emergency landing….

At about 12:30 hours UTC, a Boeing 747-238B being operated by Continental Airlines encountered clear air turbulence while at FL330 approximately 900 miles east of Tokyo. The aircraft sustained minor interior damage and four flight attendants and 10 passengers sustained minor injuries. The flight, being operated as Continental flight 910 from Tokyo to Honolulu, had departed Tokyos Narita International airport a little more than an hour before the event. The pilot reported that CAT had been forecast for the route of flight, and that the crew noticed a sudden fluctuation of outside air temperature as the aircraft entered an area of wave action. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft encountered tu…

At about 20:54, CST, a Piper PA-32R-301 crashed during an instrument approach into Olive Branch Airport, killing the pilot and passenger. The pilot was advised that the ceiling at the Memphis International Airport was at 300 feet, and no weather conditions were reported for the destination airport. The pilot was cleared for the localizer approach to runway 18, then came back on the frequency and declared a missed approach. The controller asked the pilot his intentions and the pilot responded that he wanted to try the approach again. The pilot was cleared for a second approach and the aircraft collided with trees south of the airport….

At 15:00 CST, a Cessna 172E flipped over in gusting winds while taxiing for takeoff at the Guymon Municipal Airport. The airplane sustained substantial damage but the sole occupant was not injured. The flight was originating at the time of the accident. The pilot checked the weather and discovered the winds from the south at 22 knots with gusts to 39 knots. The pilot taxied the airplane downwind for the takeoff on runway 18. When the pilot turned the airplane 90 degrees for entry onto the runway, the left wing lifted into the air and the propeller struck the ground. The pilot called the FBO for assistance and several people responded and tried to keep the airplane from flipping; however, the…

About 12:33 EST, a Cessna 182P crashed into Lake Marion, killing the pilot. The pilot had been en route from Hilton Head, S.C. to Charleston, W.Va., but had not filed a flight plan. Witnesses said it was foggy and they could hear but not see the airplane and believed it was circling around the lake very low. One witness who was fishing in the area said the airplanes engine was screaming and then became quiet. A short time later he was moving his boat to a different fishing spot when he ran across debris floating in the lake and saw the tail of the airplane protruding out of the water….

At about 08:41 EST, a Robinson R22 crashed while conducting a 180 autorotation with turn to runway 10 at Pompano Beach Airpark. The helicopter was destroyed and the pilot and flight instructor sustained serious injuries. The flight originated about 3 minutes before the accident Two witnesses who are Robinson R22 instructor pilots stated they observed the helicopter in right closed traffic for runway 10. They observed the helicopter conduct a 180-degree autorotation before the accident, which resulted in a termination with power to the numbers on runway 10. They described the autorotation as poor. They decided to watch the helicopter since it remained in right closed traffic. The helicopter w…

At 12:12 CST, a Cessna U-206G piloted by an instrument-rated pilot was destroyed during a collision with the ground following a loss of control, killing the pilot. The pilot had told controllers the airplanes vacuum pump had failed. While making a turn the pilot said he was completely disoriented. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident and the flight was operating on an IFR flight plan….