Aviation Safety

At about 19:00 MDT, a Cessna 150 hit trees while maneuvering near the shoreline of Lake Mary and crashed approximately 13 miles southeast of Flagstaff. The pilot was seriously injured and his passenger sustained minor injuries. Witnesses reported observed the airplane performing low altitude maneuvers over the lake. The passengers wife told investigators that her husband, who was not a pilot, said they had been grazing the lake and could not pull up when the accident occurred. The fuel tanks reportedly contained a total of about 12 gallons of fuel at takeoff from Flagstaff. Together, the two occupants weighed about 450 pounds….

At about 10:45 CDT, a Piper J-3C operating as an airshow flight lost a performer, who fell from an externally fixed rope ladder at Hawkins Airport. The performer was killed. The performer was stationed on a truck platform, and had made the truck-to-ladder transfer. The airplane began to climb and was 60 to 120 feet agl when the performer lost his grip on the rope ladder. The routine had been given FAA airshow approval….

At about 14:51 EDT, a Learjet 24B suffered a control surface failure shortly after takeoff from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, but the aircraft returned and landed without further incident. A wing flap hinge fitting separated, which resulted in the wing flap binding the adjacent aileron. Shortly after takeoff the pilot noticed the aircraft was in a steep right bank and the copilot was having trouble with the controls. He took control of the aircraft and found that the aircraft continued to roll to the right even with him holding extreme forces on the control wheel to roll the aircraft back to the left. He reduced left engine power and increased right engine power, which resulted in a dec…

At about 17:30 EDT, a Mooney M20E was substantially damaged during a forced landing to a road near Brooksville. The pilot survived the landing without apparent injury, but collapsed and died shortly thereafter. The flight was en route from Moundsville, W.Va., to Louisville, Ky., as one of a two-airplane flight. The pilot of the other plane said the accident pilot had just purchased the Mooney. He conducted a preflight, and took 12 to 15 samples of fuel from the left tank before it was free of water. Initially, the fuel samples were pink in color. The pilot had difficulty in removing the left wing-tank fuel cap, which appeared to be of a different type than right wing-tank fuel cap. No water…

Approximately 17:00 PDT, a Beech C33, N1310A, experienced a landing gear collapse or inadvertent retraction while performing a touch-and-go landing on runway 30 at Portland-Hillsboro Airport and the aircraft slid to a stop on its belly. The pilot and his passenger were uninjured. The pilot said he lowered the gear on downwind at midfield, and rechecked it on base and final. He said the approach and touchdown were normal but that, while rolling on the runway just after touchdown, he saw the nose start to go down. The pilot pulled back on the yoke but was going too slow to raise the nose. Inspectors found overstress damage to the nose landing gear linkage. In a post-accident test, investigator…

At 12:46 EDT, a Beech T-34A operating as part of a commercial combat dogfighting simulation lost a wing and crashed, killing the pilot and customer. The operator reported that the accident airplane and another T-34 entered the training area near Rydall to complete the pre-briefed simulation mission as outlined in phase two of the four-phase combat simulation program. Approximately 45 minutes into the mission, both airplanes set up a beyond visual range engagement. Both airplanes initiated the engagement at a predetermined altitude and direction. After the initial turn toward each other, the accident airplane started a descending turn, followed by a rapid reversal. The pilot of the second T…

At 22:40 CDT, a Cessna 182G crashed near Blanco during dark night instrument conditions. The non-instrument rated pilot was killed. The flight that originated from Coleman, Texas, at approximately 21:30. The pilot had finished working at Coleman around 21:00 and was planning to fly to San Antonio that night. Witnesses saw the airplane circling at low altitude, remaining clear of the clouds….

At about 12:08 PDT, a Wells Baby Lakes crashed during low-altitude maneuvering near Monroe, killing the pilot. A witness reported seeing the accident aircraft maneuvering at a very low altitude, tree top level just before it collided with the ground. The aircraft had been maneuvering in the area for approximately 20 minutes before it crashed….

At about 11:30 PDT, a Piper J-3 Cub collided with a Cessna 150E while being taxied in from landing at Evergreen Airpark. Both aircraft were substantially damaged, but neither pilot was injured. The J-3 pilot said he was taxiing toward the approach end of the runway in order to proceed to parking when he taxied into the Cessna, which was doing an engine run-up in preparation for departure. He said he had not seen the aircraft and didnt know it was in the area until the two aircraft made contact….

At 10:22 MDT, the pilot and passenger in an Aerostar 601P died when the aircraft crashed near Sierra Blanca Regional Airport. IMC prevailed along the intended route of flight, and the pilot departed VFR with the intent of activating a filed IFR flight plan after takeoff. Just after liftoff, a witness observed the airplane make an immediate steep turn. The airplane crashed 2.5 nm southeast of the airport….