Aviation Safety

At 10:41 eastern time, an amateur-built Lionheart crashed on takeoff from Genesee County Airport. The three occupants were uninjured. The pilot told investigators he was attempting a takeoff from runway 28 when the airplane drifted to the right and off the runway surface. The airplane became airborne, but the tailwheel struck the turf and the airplane porpoised. The landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid into some barriers around the airports tetrahedron. Winds at the time were reported as light and variable. The pilot reported that he had about 6,300 hours of flight time, with 6 hours in the accident airplane….

At 12:30 Pacific time, a Piper PA-28R-200 landed short of the approach end of runway 22 at the Catalina Island Airport, shearing off the right main gear and damaging the right wing. The three occupants were not injured. Steeply downsloping terrain surrounds the airport on three sides and the terrain at the approach end of runway 22 is very precipitous down to the ocean below. The pilot said the airplane was caught in a downdraft as he came over the cliff edge for landing. The airplane landed hard approximately 20 feet short of the approach end of the runway….

At 17:06 eastern time, a Piper PA-46-350P ran off the end of the runway at Chatham Municipal Airport. The pilot and passenger received minor injuries. The pilot said the approach and landing on the 3,000-foot runway were normal, with the airplane touching down about 300 to 400 feet from the approach end of the runway. During the rollout, the airplane decelerated to about 10 knots, As he applied brakes to turn onto the taxiway at the end of the runway, however, the airplane did not respond. The airplane departed the runway and the right wing struck the ground, bending it aft. The pilot and an instructor who had also flown the 2000 model year airplane said the brakes did not work as well as on…

At about 15:08 Pacific time, a Schweizer SGS 1-36 struck trees while approaching Skylark Field. The student pilot was seriously injured. The student was returning to land when he misread the altimeter and initiated a circle to lose altitude. Midway through the turn the student realized his error and headed directly back toward the airstrip. The glider continued to descend and crashed about a half-mile from the airstrip….

At 18:25 central time, a Beech BE-76 crashed near the Richard Lloyd Jones Airport, killing the pilot and flight instructor. The pilot radioed Tulsa Approach and said the flight was four miles north of the Okmulgee Airport and they had an engine on fire. The pilot requested a straight in landing on runway 1L at Richard Lloyd Jones Airport. Tower controllers saw the airplane approaching fast and saw smoke coming from the right engine. The pilot then said he did not have a green light and that he was going around to land on 19R. The airplane began a turn, then rolled to the right and crashed. Examination of the right engine compartment revealed an oil line had separated from a fitting….

At about 00:34 eastern time, a Dehavilland Canada DHC-6-200 struck trees while maneuvering to land at the Raleigh/Durham International Airport. The pilot was killed and two passengers suffered serious injuries. The flight was en route from Hinckley, Ill., to Louisburg, N.C. for maintenance work. A visual approach at Louisburg was unsuccessful because of ground fog. The pilot, who was not instrument rated, was given vectors toward Raleigh/Durham. ATC intended to bring the flight over the top of the airport in an attempt to get the pilot visual contact with the airport. About 1 miles from the airport the pilot turned away from the field and crashed in a heavily wooded area. The fuel tanks wer…

At approximately 08:00 Pacific time, a Cessna 172 struck trees during low-level maneuvering about seven miles northeast of Conconully. The pilot and his passenger both received minor injuries. The Canadian pilot said he took off for a local sightseeing flight and, once airborne, decided to cross the border in order to show his passenger some of the terrain in northern Washington. At the time of the accident, he was heading back toward Canada while flying very low over the trees. He said he encountered a downdraft that made the aircraft sink and one wing collided with a tree. The aircraft then cartwheeled into the forest….

At about 10:05 mountain time, a Cessna 414A suffered a reported pressurization problem and collided with obstructions after a precautionary landing in a housing development under construction. The pilot, actor Patrick Swayze, and his two dogs were not injured. The flight was en route from Van Nuys, Calif., to Las Vegas, N.M. The pilot reported that he was in cruise flight at 13,000 feet msl when he heard a loud sound. His ears popped and his dogs began barking. Concerned that he had lost pressurization, he looked for a suitable landing site. After seeing what he believed was an airport below him, he circled the field to the left and initiated an approach from the west. On short final, he n…

At about 14:50 eastern time, a Cessna 310 crashed while attempting to make a single-engine landing at Seven Springs Airport. The two occupants suffered minor injuries. The airplane was in cruise flight from Atlanta to Glens Falls, N.Y., and had made a fuel stop in Charleston, W.Va. The flight at 5,000 feet was uneventful until the passenger told the pilot the right engine spinner looked unusual. To get a better look at the spinner, the pilot reduced the throttle on the right engine, but still could not identify the problem. The pilot then advised air traffic control that he was going to shut down the right engine to examine the spinner. After securing the engine, the pilot could see the spin…

At about 13:45 central time, a Piper PA-38-112 struck trees after landing at Hopper Field. The flight instructor was seriously injured and the student pilot reported no injuries. The airport manager, who witnessed the accident, said the airplane was high and fast on the approach to the 1,400-foot-long runway 36. He said the airplane landed about halfway down the runway, departed the end of the runway and struck trees….