Aviation Safety

At 22:35 eastern time, a Beechcraft BE-55 crashed two miles short of runway 24 at Erie International Airport. The pilot sustained minor injuries. That day the pilot had flown from Erie to Dunkirk, N.Y. and Concord, N.C., then flew back to Dunkirk and was returning to Erie when the accident occurred. The pilot said he did not visually check the fuel level in either tank prior to departing on the final leg and relied on the fuel gauges. As he approached Erie, the left fuel gauge was showing empty, so he positioned the fuel selector to what he thought would feed fuel from the right tank to both engines. The Baron did not have that capability, and the pilot admitted to investigators that, despit…

At 02:15 central time, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-35 lost a right propeller blade while in cruise flight near Corsicana. Neither occupant was injured. The Part 135 cargo flight was at 11,000 feet, when the pilot heard a loud bang and felt the airplane vibrate. According to the operators chief mechanic, the vibration buckled the right engine firewall and twisted the right wing….

At approximately 13:30 Pacific time, a Cessna 182H overran the runway while trying to land at Starks Twin Oaks Airport. The pilot and passenger received minor injuries. The pilot said he was having trouble maintaining the correct airspeed in the pattern and executed a go-around on his first attempt to land because he was too high and fast. On his second attempt, he intentionally came in high with partial flaps in case he had to go around again. As he crossed the threshold, he was still a little high and fast, but he elected to continue his attempt to land. The aircraft did not touch down until it was about half-way down the 2,150 foot treated-gravel runway. The pilot then applied maximum br…

At 17:10 central time, a Cessna 150E and a Cessna 172N collided in cruise flight near Katy. The pilot of the 150 was killed and the two occupants of the 172 were uninjured. Both airplanes were on VFR cross-country flights without flight plans. The pilot of the 172 said the airplane was in level flight at 2,000 feet approximately 10 miles west of the West Houston Airport when she dialed in the CTAF to make a position report. She said she was scanning the area when she noticed an airplane approaching her airplane from the left side at a 90-degree angle. She stated that the airplane was flying at an altitude slightly below her airplanes altitude. She initiated a climb and right turn but the tw…

At 16:55 mountain time, a Piper PA-24-250 crashed in the mountains about seven miles southeast of Antimony, killing the pilot and his passenger. The pilot was not instrument rated but IMC prevailed at the accident site. A family friend said the pilot had owned the airplane for four months and had flown from Mesa, Ariz., to Provo earlier that day to pick up his father. The pilot and his father were going to return to Mesa. At approximately 15:35, the pilot called his wife by cell phone while he was taxiing for takeoff and told her he would be back in Mesa by 18:30. A controller observed a VFR target in the vicinity of Antimony flying east to west. The target squawked 7700 once then disappeare…

At 23:22 central time, a Piper PA-46-310P made a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Gainesville. The pilot was not injured. The pilot told investigators that when he was approximately 15 to 20 miles north of Gainesville the airplane experienced a severe vibration. The engine oil pressure began to rise, then dropped, and the engine lost power. The pilot declared an emergency to Gainesville Municipal Airport Tower and attempted to land at GLE. The airplane came to rest in a grassy field approximately 200 yards from the runway threshold. Investigators found a large hole in the engine crankcase between the #3 and #5 cylinders….

At about 08:40 eastern time, a Ryan Navion A suffered an engine failure and ditched in the Atlantic Ocean near Daytona Beach Shores. The three occupants reported minor injuries. The pilot said they were flying from Spruce Creek to St. Augustine at 1,000 feet when the engine quit. He ditched about 150 yards from shore. The aircraft remained afloat for two to three minutes and all occupants were able to exit before the airplane sank in 11 feet of water….

At 22:04 mountain time, a Piper PA-44-180T collided with a Cessna 182Q while the Piper was making a go-around and the Cessna was taxiing. No one was injured. The pilot of the Seminole apparently was making a go-around after abandoning a landing approach to runway 17L. The airplane drifted left of the runway and collided with the Cessna, which was taxiing north on taxiway Bravo. The Piper pilot then landed the airplane on the grass median between the runway and taxiway….

At about 19:27 Pacific time, a Cessna TR182 descended into rising hilly terrain about 3.5 nautical miles from Petaluma Municipal Airport, killing the pilot. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight plan had been filed. The pilot was practicing instrument flying and had made several flights earlier in the day. As the airplane approached Petaluma at 19:23 on the VOR DME runway 29 approach, the radar controller terminated radar services and advised the pilot to change to the airports advisory frequency. The pilot acknowledged the instruction but that was the last recorded communication ATC had with the pilot. The local weather conditions at the time included heav…

At 09:30 mountain time, a Cessna 182P crashed at the 11,000-foot level of Frazier Mountain, 15 miles northeast of Taos. The pilot and his passenger were killed. Witnesses at the Taos ski area said the airplane turned up a canyon across the valley from the ski area and disappeared from view. Winds in the area at the time of the accident were reportedly about 50 knots….