Aviation Safety

At 10:53 eastern time, a Mooney M20F was damaged when it overran the runway on landing at Mallory Airport. The pilot and passenger received minor injuries. The pilot said he lost engine power while in cruise flight because he ran the left tank dry. He selected the right tank and the engine restarted, but he was worried about running out of fuel in the right tank. During landing, the airplane touched down on the runway and continued past the departure end of the runway, striking a hangar and a parked airplane….

At approximately 13:30 mountain time, a homebuilt RV-6A departed the runway during takeoff from Stevens Field. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was departing on runway 19 and had used 7,500 of the available 8,500 feet when the airplane departed the runway. The airplane traveled another 250 feet and struck a fence. The airports elevation was 7,700 feet and the density altitude at the time was nearly 10,500 feet….

At 14:30 eastern time, a homebuilt Rotorway Exec 162F helicopter struck trees after lifting to a hover in an open field in Wallingford. The flight instructor and student pilot/builder were not injured. The instructor said he had repositioned the helicopter solo and, when the student boarded, he forgot to move the ballast weight from the right front skid tube to the tail cone, as directed by the checklist. He also said he did not use the pre-takeoff checklist, which would have reminded him to move the ballast. When the helicopter took off, the nose pitched down and the helicopter accelerated and struck trees. The flight instructor reported eight hours in make and model, of which three were lo…

At about 11:48 central time, a Beech 95-C55 lost engine power and crashed on initial climb from runway 31 at St. Cloud Regional Airport. The pilot was seriously injured. A witness said he saw the plane taking off and climbing to about 200 feet agl when it banked steeply to the right and began to go inverted. The pilot said he was at about 150 feet when the right engine lost power. No cause for the power loss could immediately be determined….

At 00:30 central time, a Piper PA-28-140 lost power and struck a fence in the ensuing forced landing in a field near Owasso. One passenger suffered minor injuries and the pilot and another passenger were not injured. The flight was cruising on an IFR flight plan when the pilot reported to controllers that the alternator was failing. Soon thereafter the engine lost power. The controller gave the pilot a radar vector to Claremore but the airplane could not reach the airport….

At 12:10 Pacific time, a Beech BE-55 landed gear-up at San Bernardino. The instructor and student were not injured. The student told police he was receiving flight instruction for his commercial certificate and had just completed two touch-and-go takeoffs and landings. He was on his third touch-and-go to runway 24 when he forgot to lower the landing gear prior to touchdown. The instructor said he did not hear the gear warning horn prior to the accident….

At 11:25 mountain time, a Cessna 177RG was damaged during landing at Broomfield-Jefferson County (Jeffco) Airport. The pilot and his passenger were not injured. The pilot said he heard a loud pop and noticed the landing gear unsafe light was illuminated. The main landing gear was partially extended and could not be fully extended or retracted. The pilot eventually landed on runway 29L at Jeffco, where the nose gear held and the main gear collapsed. Initial examination of the airplane indicated the high pressure up hose failed. The airplane was in compliance with an AD that addresses this problem….

At 10:30 mountain time, a Piper PA-18-150 lost power on takeoff and struck the perimeter fence at El Tiro Gliderport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was making a flight prior to towing gliders to make sure that the airplane was working properly. He conducted a preflight and saw the fuel selector pointing toward the left. The pilot said he had been flying a Cessna 120 that has a similar looking fuel selector but operates opposite the Super Cub. In the 120, the left position is fuel on, in the Cub its fuel off. The engine sputtered on takeoff and the pilot tried to slip the airplane back to the runway, but the engine momentarily caught again and pushed him into the fence….

At about 14:25 central time, a Piper PA-32RT-300T crashed in the Gulf of Mexico near Gulfport, killing the pilot. IMC prevailed and a VFR flight plan from Tampa to New Orleans had been filed but not activated. Gulfport Approach Control, which was providing flight following, received a land line call from New Orleans Approach Control recommending that the flight not try to continue VFR. Gulfport relayed the message to the accident pilot and recommended a left 180-degree turn to avoid weather. The pilot acknowledged, but radar returns showed the flight entered a right turn and started a high rate of descent….

At about 19:30 eastern time, a Beech B-19 was damaged while landing at Louisa County-Freeman Field Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was en route from Warrenton to Richmond when he noticed indications that the airplane was losing electrical power. He then elected to divert to LKU and, shortly thereafter, the airplane lost all electrical power. While landing on runway 27 the pilot flared high and the airplane landed hard. The runway lights were illuminated during the landing….