Aviation Safety

At 19:21 CST, a Cessna 210D crashed in a residential neighborhood after the pilot reported a vacuum problem about four minutes after takeoff from Spirit of St. Louis Airport. The pilot and his passenger were killed. Night IMC prevailed….

At 13:29 EDT, a Cessna 337C and a Cessna 305C collided in mid-air while conducting flybys at an airshow at Harriman and West Airport. Both pilots were killed. The 337 was painted to resemble an O-2 US Air Force Vietnam era observation airplane and the 305 was painted to resemble a US Army L-19, a Korean war and Vietnam era training and observation airplane. The two airplanes were part of a flight of three. The 337 was restricted to a minimum altitude of 500 feet agl and the 305 was restricted from climbing above 200 feet agl. The 305 was paired with an O-59 World War II observation plane. The 337 had made one pass over the field and was coming around for a second pass when the airplane start…

At about 09:40 EDT, a Cessna 172N struck mountains near Dyke, killing the pilot and three passengers. The airplane was rented from a flight school in Newport News. The dispatcher stated she first saw the pilot about 08:00 on the day of the accident. The pilot said he was going to fly to Charlottesville, Va., and logged the airplane out accordingly, with a return time of 17:00. As the pilot was preflighting the airplane, it began to rain and he departed without finishing signing out the airplane. The weather deteriorated and the flight school began a telephone search for the airplane around 12:30. The wreckage was found by ground search teams on the morning of August 27. A forest ranger situa…

At 17:50 CST, an amateur-built Lancair 235/320 was damaged during a forced landing following the separation of the propeller in flight near Sterling City. The pilot was not injured. The flight was en route from Kerrville to Big Spring, Texas. The pilot was cruising at 12,000 feet when he felt a vibration and smelled an odor that resembled wire burning. He was cleared to descend to 6,500 feet and, when leveling off at 6,500 feet, the propeller separated from the engine. The pilot selected a road to land on but, during the approach, struck a power line and bounced on the shoulder of the road. The right wing struck a sign and separated from the airplane….

At 15:10 PDT, a Waco UPF7 struck a Cessna 195 while taxiing for takeoff at the Jean airport. The Cessna 195 was on a taxiway holding short of runway 2L waiting for departure and the Waco UPF7 was taxiing to runway 2L for departure. No one was injured. The airport manager said the taxiway is too narrow for the Waco to effectively S-turn. The Waco struck the tail of the Cessna with its propeller….

At approximately 10:10 MDT, a homebuilt Vari-Eze nosed over during a forced landing 20 miles southwest of Quemado. The pilot was killed. The pilot reportedly had just purchased the aircraft in California and was ferrying it to McKinney, Texas. At 10:01, the pilot contacted Albuquerque Center and said he was level at 13,500 feet and experiencing a rough running engine. The pilot requested vectors to the closest airport. He was provided a discreet transponder code, but was never identified on radar….

At about 07:41 Hawaiian standard time, a Partenavia Victor was preparing to taxi for takeoff on a Part 135 flight from the Kaunakakai/Molokai Airport when a late arriving passenger walked into the operating left engines propeller. The passenger was seriously injured. The pilot reported that five passengers had chartered the airplane to transport them between the Kaunakakai and Kalaupapa airports. The accident passenger failed to show up at the boarding gate and the pilot prepared to depart. The fifth passenger arrived at the departure gate, saw that it was closed and found other access to the ramp. The passenger approached the airplane from behind and was not observed by the pilot until bei…

At 16:15 PDT, a Cessna 150H nosed over during a precautionary landing when the engine began running roughly near El Monte. The pilot sustained minor injuries. The purpose of the flight was to conduct banner towing near the Los Angeles Coliseum. The pilot said he departed Chino and was flying west toward the tow area when he began to have engine problems. The problem got worse and the pilot selected a landing site at the landfill because it was the only site he felt would keep him away from populated areas. He landed successfully and hit a ditch while taxing the airplane, which caused it to nose over….

At 18:30 EDT, a Cessna L-19E nosed over on landing at Morganton, but the pilot was not injured. Winds at the time of the accident were reported as 300 to 320 degrees, 10 knots gusting to 15. The pilot said he decided the wind was favoring runway 21 and set up to land that way, but in fact landed on runway 3. He made a three-point landing but, as he touched down, the airplane was blown to the right side of the runway. He briefly straightened it out and applied full power to go around, but lost control of the airplane. The left wing struck the ground to the left of the runway and the airplane flipped inverted….

At about 15:10 EDT, a Piper Arrow struck trees shortly after takeoff from the Seven Springs Airport, killing the pilot and passenger. The IFR flight was originating, destined for Louisville, Ky. The aircraft struck trees about mile from the runway, but all were below runway elevation because of downsloping terrain. A check of FAA records showed that the pilots certificate had been suspended for one year on March 10, 1999, for violation of FAR Part 61.15A, which covers drug convictions….