Aviation Safety

At 18:00 EDT, a Cessna 205 hauling a group of skydivers crashed shortly after takeoff from the Lakefield Airport. The pilot and five parachutists died. Several witnesses described smooth engine noise, brief sputtering and then a total loss of engine power. When the engine quit one skydiver jumped out, but the altitude was insufficient to open the parachute. The airplane then entered a spiraling descent and two more jumpers exited the airplane. The pilot had been hired the day of the accident. Investigators determined the aircraft was loaded with 30 gallons of fuel and then flew three lifts of jumpers to approximately 10,000 feet, with each flight taking about 30 minutes. The accident occurre…

At about 13:45 EDT, a Beech A35 Bonanza made a forced landing short of Phillipsburg Airport. The pilot was uninjured and the passenger received minor injuries. The engine failed about five miles from the indended destination. The fuel selector was on the right tank, which was empty. The left tank was full….

At 14:45 EDT, an American Airlines A300 landed successfully after the flightcrew experienced multiple rudder deflections that caused the airplane to yaw excessively from side to side while on final approach to runway 9R. There were no reported injuries. During the initial approach to runway 9R, as the crew configured the airplane for landing with flaps 40 degrees and the landing gear down, the airplane began to yaw left and right. The flightcrew said the rudder pedals did not move, but the yaw was enough that the captain abandoned the approach. During the go around the yaw deviations increased and became extreme. Initial examination of the flight data recorded shows that that rudder deviated…

At approximately 09:05 MDT, a Cessna 172Q and a Cessna T210N collided while on approach four miles west of the Greeley-Weld County Airport. Each plane contained a rated pilot receiving flight instruction. None of the four pilots were injured and both airplanes landed safely at Greeley. VMC prevailed and both airplanes were on IFR flight plans. The instructor in the 172 requested radar vectors for an ILS approach to runway 9 and canceled his IFR flight plan after turning onto the final approach. During that time he said he heard the controller clear the 210 for a VOR-A approach. The 172 instructor changed to the Unicom frequency and reported he was on a four-mile final to runway 9. Shortly af…

At 17:54 Alaska daylight time, a Piper Pacer ran off the edge of runway 19 at the Dillingham airport. The two occupants were not injured. The pilot said that during his initial taxi, the airplane did not steer correctly, but he could not determine the reason and decided to return to parking. During the return taxi on runway 19, the pilot was unable to control the turn. After the accident, the pilot discovered that the external rudder gust lock was still installed….

At about 11:32 PDT, a Cessna 172M crashed into a hangar at Omak Airport. The pilot said the engine would not turn over so he elected to hand-prop the aircraft. Once the engine started, the aircraft jumped the chocks and traveled 100 feet across the tarmac and struck a hangar….

At approximately 17:25 MDT, the pilot and passenger in a Piper Apache were killed when it crashed about one mile northeast of the Tucumcari Municipal Airport. The airplane departed Dallas, Texas, approximately 13:30 CDT, and was en route to Albuquerque. It landed for fuel at Tucumcari and was serviced with 54 gallons of fuel, then departed. At 17:17, the pilot advised Albuquerque Center that the left engine was smoking badly and that he was feathering the propeller. At 17:21, he advised he was returning to Tucumcari. The airport manager and the weather observer saw the airplane fly over runway 21 with the landing gear retracted. They radioed the pilot that his landing gear was still retrac…

At about 14:04 EDT, a Classic Aircraft S-51D experimental airplane registered to the company crashed near Tamarac, killing the pilot. The flight had departed the Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport at 13:49 as part of the 40-hour test period required for certification. The pilot was about five miles west of the airport when he radioed the control tower that he was having a problem raising the landing gear and he wanted to return to the airport. At 14:04, he radioed that he had lost the engine. Radar and radio contact was lost shortly thereafter. A witness in the area said he heard the engine losing power and sputtering and saw the aircraft make a controlled descent to the ground. After impact…

At 20:30 CDT, a Rutan Vari-Eze crashed shortly after takeoff from the Enterprise Airport. The pilot said he had forgotten to remove the fuel vent cover during his preflight inspection. Shortly after takeoff the engine lost power….

American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed after landing at Little Rock. There were thunderstorms and heavy rain in the area at the time of the accident. The airplane departed the end of runway, went down an embankment and struck approach light structures. There was a crew of six and 139 passengers on board the airplane. Eleven people were killed in the accident, including the pilot. One person was seriously injured and four suffered minor injuries….