Aviation Safety

At about 18:15 EST, a Piper PA-28-235 struck something shortly after landing at Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The airplane suffered a dented wing but the two occupants were not injured. The pilot said he made a visual approach to runway 23R and backed the approach up with the ILS. On touchdown the airplane veered to the left and into the grass. He stated he had not applied any brakes. He regained directional control and maneuvered the airplane back on the runway. He contacted the tower and informed them that he did not know what happened. The tower asked him if he had a bird strike. He looked out the window to his left and saw a dent in the wing, but so far the investigation has not…

At 10:54 EST, a Cessna 210N crashed and burned while trying to make an emergency landing at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport. The pilot was killed. The airplane had just departed PDK when the pilot reported a landing gear problem and smoke in the cockpit. The pilot was instructed to enter visual traffic for runway 2R and he was cleared to land. As the airplane neared touchdown the controller told the pilot that the landing gear did not appear to be locked and instructed the pilot to go around. When the airplane flew by the control tower, the tower controller noticed smoke coming from the airplane. The pilot climbed from runway 2R and tried to line up with runway 27. The tower controller again instru…

At about 17:30 EDT, a Beech Baron crashed while landing at Wakulla County Airport. The pilot was killed and a passenger suffered minor injuries. A pilot who landed on runway 18 at Wakulla County about 20 minutes before the accident said he could see a thunderstorm fast approaching the field from the west. Light rain began sprinkling the airport just before the accident, and the wind shifted from the south to the north. The accident aircraft landed downwind on runway 18, touched down about half-way down the runway, and skidded off the end, through a chain-link fence and into a thicket of oak trees….

At 13:11, a Cessna Caravan was destroyed during a precautionary landing near Hillsborough and the pilot suffered minor injuries. The airplane had two auxiliary fuel tanks installed in the passenger cabin the day before and the FAA had issued a special flight permit for overweight operations. The airplane was filled with 585 gallons of Jet-A and the gross weight of the airplane was about 10,000 pounds. As the airplane passed through about 800 to 900 feet, the pilot smelled turbine fuel. He stopped the climb and attempted to locate the source of the fumes, but failed. He requested radar vectors to the closest airport and initiated a descent. He then noticed about 1 inch of standing fuel on the…

At 17:52 CDT, a Spezio Sport amateur built airplane struck power lines and then collided with an automobile near Mathis. The two aboard the airplane were killed. One of the occupants of the car suffered serious injuries and the other three had minor injuries. Witnesses traveling on I-37 said the airplane was flying very low to the east before turning to the south over I-37. The airplane was in a continuous descent and the witnesses concluded the airplane was going to land on the southbound lanes of the highway. The landing gear struck a set of power lines running perpendicular to the road, then hit another set and dropped into the northbound lanes of the highway….

At 12:18 CDT, Piper PA-28R-200 crashed shortly after takeoff from Carr Memorial Air Field, but the pilot was not injured. The pilot said he took off from runway 36 and was climbing through 500 feet when the engine began running roughly. He initiated a 180-degree turn and the engine problem grew worse. At the completion of the turn the engine stopped. The airplane came to rest in a wooded area -mile north northwest of the airport….

At about 15:00 EST, a Bellanca 17-30A made a forced landing at the Canandaigua Airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The pilot told investigators he lifted off about three-quarters of the way down Runway 31. At about 65 feet above the runway, the pilot raised the landing gear and the engine quit. The pilot lowered the nose and attempted to land on the remaining runway. The airplane touched down, bounced back into the air, and then floated over a road located at the end of the runway and landed in a plowed field. The FAA inspector noted that the airplane had not been inspected for 2 years before the accident and has had a history of fuel contamination problems….

At about 15:35 EDT, a Mooney M20E was destroyed during a forced landing near Prattsburg. The pilot suffered serious injuries and the passenger received minor injuries. The pilot said that, in cruise flight, he heard a loud bang and saw what appeared to be a piece of shrapnel go by the windshield. The airplane started to vibrate, and the pilot performed the forced landing to a hilly field. Inspection of the propeller and the surrounding vicinity revealed that approximately 1 foot of one propeller blade was missing….

At 13:45 EDT, a Cessna 150G was damaged during an emergency landing shortly after takeoff from the Toledo Suburban Airport. The pilot reported minor injuries. The pilot told investigators that he failed to remove the aileron gust lock that was installed on the right aileron. He executed an emergency landing and the aircraft departed the prepared runway surface and nosed over….

At about 14:07 EST, a Cessna 210L suffered a no-gear landing at Ohio State University Airport. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The pilot had been practicing instrument procedures and was returning to the airport. He selected the gear down and observed the nose gear extended in a mirror, and landed on runway 27. The main gear, however, were not extended. The pilot said he heard a horn just before touchdown, but thought it was a stall warning horn. The pilot said he was never exposed to the sound of the landing gear warning horn during his previous instruction in the airplane. The accident flight was his first flight in the airplane as pilot-in-command. The president of the flying cl…