Aviation Safety

At about 15:03 EDT, a Glaser-Dirks DG-400 broke up in flight and crashed. The pilot bailed out and received only minor injuries. The glider was self-launched from Mountain Meadow Airport in Burlington about 13:30. Flying straight and level at about 6,500 feet, the pilot heard a sharp bang that sounded like the glider had struck an object. The pilot turned the glider 360 degrees to look for any other traffic in the area. As the glider rolled out of the turn, another loud bang was heard and the gear warning alarm began to sound. The pilot looked out to the left and observed the left wing displaced 20 degrees up from its normal position. The glider began to descend and control inputs by the…

At about 13:34 EDT, a Cessna 305A and a Burkhart Grob G-103 glider collided in mid-air near the Philadelphia Gliderport, killing the pilot in the Cessna as well as the instructor and student in the glider. The Cessna was in a climb towing a glider, while the Grob was maneuvering. The pilot who had towed the Grob aloft said they had taken off at 13:25 and the Grob released at 2,500 feet agl. He returned to the gliderport and landed without seeing the Cessna. The pilot of a single seat glider that was being towed aloft by the Cessna said that they were climbing through 1,000 feet when he spotted the Grob at his 11 oclock position, about 1,500 feet away, and about 100 feet above his position….

At 15:55 CDT, a Cessna 150L struck a telephone pole while maneuvering at a low altitude. The pilot and a passenger were seriously injured. The flight had originated from the Kansas City Downtown Airport about 25 minutes earlier….

At about 17:40 EDT, a homebuilt Pitts S-1S crashed near Westtown, killing the pilot. A witness flying with the accident pilot in a separate airplane, said the accident pilot wanted to practice her sportsman aerobatics routine for an upcoming competition. The witness stayed about -mile to the east and watched the accident pilot practice. The accident pilot entered her aerobatics sequence approximately 3,500 feet msl, and completed several maneuvers before entering a spin to the left. After 1 turns the airplanes rotation started to slow, but then accelerated two turns later. About seven turns into the spin, the witness received a radio transmission from the accident pilot in which she sai…

At approximately 15:00 MDT, a Mooney M20E lost power and crashed while on approach to Cedar City Regional Airport. All three aboard were killed. The flight originated from Boulder, Colo., with a short stop in Nucla, Colo., and was in the air about five hours. The Salt Lake City ARTCC said the pilot reported that he was low on fuel as he approached his final destination of Cedar City. The pilot stated to the FSS facility at Cedar City that his engine had quit and he was circling to the ground. The crash site was five miles from the airport near the approach path to runway 20….

At about 13:36 EDT, the pilot of a Piper Warrior ditched into Lake Erie at the end of a 3:51 cross-country flight. The pilot received minor injuries. The pilot had taken off from Green Bay, Wisc., where the engine starter had been repaired, to reposition the airplane to Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland. The flight was uneventful until about 10 miles north of his destination, when he reported to the BKL air traffic control tower that the engine was cutting in and out. Two minutes later he declared an emergency, saying the engine had lost power. After ditching, the airplane remained afloat for several minutes and then sank. The pilot was rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. The pilot reported…

At approximately 19:14 PDT, a Cessna 150G crashed near the Detroit Lake reservoir, seriously injuring the pilot. The aircraft had departed VFR at 16:00 from Lebanon, Ore., and was destined for Estacada. The pilot was unable to land at Estacada due to high winds and subsequently attempted to return to Lebanon State. At about 18:30 he declared an emergency with the Seattle ARTCC, using another aircraft as a radio relay, and contacted the Seattle ARTCC directly about 30 minutes later. The non-instrument rated pilot said he had been flying in a snowstorm for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, did not know where he was, could not see anything on the ground, was low on fuel, and that he thought the a…

At 23:30 PDT, a Cessna T303 ditched into San Diego Bay when it lost power in both engines during a missed approach to runway 27 at Lindbergh Field. Neither occupant was injured in the ditching. The airplane had departed from Houston, Texas, and was destined for San Diego. The owner, who was not PIC during the flight, said he and his companion planned to stop at Gila Bend, Ariz., for fuel but learned when they got there that fuel was unavailable. The other pilot landed at a nearby private airstrip and they arranged for someone to buy fuel at a third airport and transport it to the private airfield. They put in approximately 63 gallons of fuel and a sump check showed the fuel free of sediment…

At about 07:03 EDT, an American Eagle Saab 340B was damaged during a runway overrun at John F. Kennedy International Airport. One passenger sustained a minor injury but 29 other occupants were uninjured. The pilots flew an ILS approach to runway 4R and touched down approximately 7,000 feet down the 8,400-foot-long runway. The airplane traveled off the end of the runway, over a speed bump and onto the Engineered Materials Arresting System. The airplane traveled approximately 214 feet across the 600 foot long EMAS, and the landing gear sank approximately 30 inches into the material. The incident was the first known operational use of the EMAS….

At 08:30 CDT, a Grumman American AA-5B lost its propeller assembly while in cruise flight near Claremore. The pilot was not injured in the subsequent forced landing. The pilot said he was in level cruise flight at 2,500 feet when he noticed a vibration in the aircraft. The vibration became more violent and the propeller flew off. The pilot elected to land at the Claremore Municipal Airport. The pilot said that the airplane started to porpoise during the approach, so he elected to touch down in the grass section between runway 34 and the taxiway to absorb some of the landing energy. The nose landing gear collapsed during the roll. The propeller assembly (propeller with approximately 5 inche…