Aviation Safety

At 12:30 PDT, a Cessna 172 crashed on takeoff from a county road 22 miles west of Needles. The pilot and one passenger suffered minor injuries. Witnesses reported that the pilot landed the aircraft on Goffs Road and taxied near an automotive service station. The pilot told the service station attendant that he was en route to Bullhead City and was unsure if he had sufficient fuel aboard. He purchased five gallons of automotive gasoline in a container, carried it to the aircraft and poured it in the right wing tank. The pilot then taxied back up the road, turned around and initiated takeoff in a westerly direction. The left wing tip struck a sign post, the aircraft veered left, struck the top…

At about 09:45 PDT, a Piper Arrow crashed into trees near Bass Lake. The pilot and his three passengers were killed. The pilot had said he was going to take family members on a photo flight. At about 09:30, the aircraft flew first east then west at about 1,000 feet over Bass Lake. A witness said he saw the airplane flying about 100 feet above 100-foot-tall trees. He said the engine was running smoothly, then the power increased, followed by the sound of impact….

At 21:50 CDT, the pilot of a homebuilt Glasair I was killed when he lost control while maneuvering near Albany. A witness driving on a state highway saw the nav lights at about 50 feet agl and about 100 yards off the left side of the road. She said she saw the airplane abruptly initiate a near-vertical climb and then saw the lights descending toward the ground as if the airplane was corkscrewing, but the rotation stopped as the planes descent continued. She did not see or hear the impact….

At 00:40 CDT, the pilot of a Cessna 182J was killed during an aborted landing attempt into Satanta Municipal Airport. The pilot was instrument rated and IMC prevailed, but the pilot had canceled his IFR flight plan prior to approach into the airport, which is not served by an instrument approach. The pilot crashed into a silo….

At 10:45 CDT, a Beech B19 on approach for landing at Haerr Field was struck by a Robinson R-22 Beta helicopter. Both aircraft landed safely and there were no injuries. The Beech pilot said he was turning base to final when he heard a thud and felt a bump, then noticed the helicopter at his 10 oclock position and just below. The helicopter pilot said he had heard the airplanes transmissions and thought the airplane was already on the ground. The helicopter pilot said he never saw the airplane before it came right over the top of the helicopter….

At 22:20 PDT, a Cessna 172M suffered electrical failure and made a forced landing in a parking lot at MCAS Miramar. The rented aircraft was substantially damaged and the pilot was seriously injured. The pilot had left Montgomery Field in San Diego, intending to fly a VOR-A approach into Oceanside, proceed to McClellan-Palomar, then return to Montgomery. He received a clearance to execute the approach at Oceanside, then informed the controller he had lost his VOR and would remain VFR and return to Montgomery for landing. While the aircraft was en route to Montgomery the controller lost radar contact and a few moments later lost radio contact. The controller observed a primary target proceedin…

At about 14:00 EDT, a Cessna 185E crashed into the Connecticut River after departure from the Goodspeed Airport. The pilot was seriously injured and a pilot/mechanic received minor injuries. The pilot/mechanic, who had performed repairs on the airplane, said it was the first flight since recent maintenance from a previous accident, in which the airplane was submerged under water. The pilot/mechanic, who was seated in the left front seat of the airplane, was not familiar with the airplane and brought along a second pilot to act as pilot in command. The pilot/mechanic handled the controls. He conducted a full runup of the engine and made three high-speed taxis down the runway. He then took off…

At approximately 18:47 CDT, the pilot of a Piper Apache intentionally ground-looped the airplane after the brakes reportedly failed to operate during the landing ground roll. The two pilots aboard were uninjured. The pilot-rated passenger said the aircraft landed on the 2,600-foot sod runway at approximately 75 mph but there appeared to be no brakes. As the aircraft neared the east end of the runway, the aircraft was ground-looped to keep from crossing Kerr Road and going into the trees. The aircraft exited the runway to the left, crossed a ditch and came to a stop in the eastbound lane of Highway 321. An inspector examined the brakes and found no anomalies, then performed an operational…

At about 13:00 EDT, a homebuilt Lancair 235 was damaged during a loss of control during landing at Hamilton-Fairfield Airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries. An investigator determined that the pilot made an approach to runway 29, but performed a go-around prior to touchdown. During a second landing attempt, the airplane touched down, then veered to the left and struck a runway light. The pilot added full power to go around again. The airplane then pitched nose-up and rolled left. The propeller struck the ground, and the airplane cartwheeled. The pilot had less than 100 total flight hours, and less than five hours in make and model….

At approximately 19:15 CDT, a Beech C18S twin crashed following an engine tearaway in cruise flight near Waldron. The pilot was killed. The airplane departed Beaumont, Texas, about 17:00 with a destination of Springdale, Ark. The pilot told controllers at 9:12 that he had lost an engine. At this time, the airplane was on a northerly heading at an altitude of 5,500 feet approximately 1 nautical mile north of the Waldron Municipal Airport and the pilot elected to turn back to Waldron. A witness reported that he observed the airplane emit short trail of white smoke from #2 [right] engine, two seconds later, saw flash under right engine nacelle. The airplane yawed to steep [right] bank with i…