Aviation Safety

At about 18:00 eastern time, a Zlin 526F crashed near Queen Anne, killing the pilot and leaving the passenger seriously injured. The pilot-rated passenger said the two were going flying and the owner had him sit in the rear, primary pilot position. The two donned parachutes because they contemplated flying aerobatics. The pilot flew the airplane to a local aerobatic training area and performed several aerobatic maneuvers. The airplane entered an inverted spin and the passenger released the canopy and bailed out. His parachute had barely deployed when he hit the ground. The pilot, who held a CFI rating, did not bail out….

At 18:00 mountain time, a Starduster Too SA300 was damaged in a precautionary landing near Woodrow when weather deteriorated. The pilot was not injured. The pilot planned a flight from Saint Francis, Kan., to Watkins, Colo. Her weather briefing did not make any mention of precipitation. When she was near Woodrow the visibility deteriorated rapidly due to snow, and ice began to form on the windshield. The pilot chose to land in a field, which was rough and uneven, and the aircraft ground-looped….

At 16:30 mountain time, the pilot of a Cessna 172F lost control during takeoff from runway 30 at Clovis Municipal Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot told investigators the airplane started to drift to the left during the takeoff roll and went off the runway surface. He said there was a little crosswind, so he applied a little right rudder and lowered the left wing. The aircraft veered back to the right, nosed over and the right wing tip struck the ground….

At about 10:55 eastern time, a Cessna 172M slid off an embankment after landing at a private landing strip near Bennettsville. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he landed normally on runway 12 and then did a fast taxi to get to the opposite end of the runway. A gust of wind lifted the right wing, the nose weathercocked into the wind and the airplane slid sideways, left side first, over an embankment….

At 19:05 central time, an experimental KR-2S crashed following a loss of engine power and spin while maneuvering near Wichita Falls. The pilot and passenger were killed. A witness said the airplane was in a climbing turn when the engine sputtered and quit. It nosed over and spiraled to the ground. The airplane struck the ground relatively flat. The cockpit was crushed flat and each main landing gear was shoved up into the respective wing. The wreckage showed no evidence there was fuel on board at the time of impact….

At about 11:00 eastern time, a Stinson 108-3 lost engine power after takeoff from Potomac Airfield and made a forced landing into trees. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the passenger was seriously injured. The pilot said he had just purchased fuel and was returning to his home airport about two miles to the east. The engine ran rough immediately on startup, but then smoothed out. He departed runway 24 but the engine lost all power on initial climb. The pilot believed he had a magneto problem….

At about 13:10 eastern time, a Cessna 172S struck a snow bank during a landing rollout at Dillant-Hopkins Airport. The pilot was not injured. A Notam reported Dillant-Hopkins runway conditions as clear, with patches of packed snow and ice. Because of the runways length and the reports of patches of snow and ice, the pilot kept his feet off the brakes, and expected a long rollout. About 500 feet into the rollout, the right main tire lost traction, and the aircraft began to yaw, then slowly veer and skid to the left. The pilot noted that in the area where he had lost control of the airplane the runway had appeared to be covered with packed snow. However, after the accident, the pilot sa…

At 11:30 central time, a Cessna 340B suffered a collapsed right main landing gear during a single-engine landing at Lancaster. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The pilot said he was descending for landing and switched tanks and reduced power. The right engine quit. He tried to restart the engine but failed, so he feathered the prop. Within two minutes, the left engine quit. The pilot was able to restore power to both engines, but the right engine did not run smoothly. About seven miles from the airport the right engine quit again and the pilot again feathered the prop. When the pilot completed the before-landing checklist while on final, he noted the gear warning lights did not show all th…

At approximately 12:40 Pacific time, a Piper PA-24 lost engine power in flight and was substantially damaged when the pilot made an intentional gear-up landing in a field. The pilot and passenger where not injured. The pilot said the airplane was in cruise flight when he noticed the exhaust gas temperature had decreased. He did not sense any drop in rpm and he did not check to see what the manifold pressure was. He applied carburetor heat for a couple of seconds but saw no indication that there was any ice accumulation. Less than a minute later the engine quit. The aircraft descended through the overcast and the pilot executed a forced landing in an open field located in densely forested ter…

At about 21:15 central time, a Cessna 210 ran out of fuel and crashed in Seminole. IMC prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The pilot and two passengers received minor injuries, while the third passenger was not injured. The flight had originated in Wisconsin 11 hours earlier. The aircraft had been on an IFR flight plan to Pensacola, Fla., and had missed two ILS approaches to Pensacola. After the pilot executed the second missed approach, he canceled the IFR flight plan and diverted to Gulf Shores, Ala. While en route to Gulf Shores, the pilot reported to ATC he had run out of fuel….