Aviation Safety

At about 10:51 eastern time, a Cessna 172S crashed while landing at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport. The student pilot was not injured. The pilot departed from runway 4 and felt the trim forcing the nose of the airplane down. She informed the control tower that she was having difficulty and the controller cleared her to land on runway 32. She attempted to manually control the trim, but was unsuccessful. She put both hands on the control wheel and activated the autopilot red disconnect button with negative results. She said she knew she was not flying the airplane. She did not attempt to turn the autopilot off at the control head because she had not received any training in how to…

At approximately 15:30 Pacific time, a Cessna 172RG on an aerial fire survey flight crashed into high terrain while maneuvering about 5 nm east of Carbonado. The pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries. The pilot, also a flight instructor, said he departed Boeing Field with the passenger for a fire spotting flight in the Cascade Mountain foothills. He demonstrated some flight maneuvers to the passenger, then allowed the passenger to fly. The pilot sensed a loss of climb performance and took the flight controls, but the engine began running rough and the airplane struck trees. The pilot said he may have encountered carb ice, but had never experienced carb ice before. The pilot also report…

At 23:25 central time, a Piper PA-31T1 crashed on approach to Graham Municipal Airport. The pilot and his three passengers were killed. The pilot was instrument-rated and IMC prevailed, but a flight plan was not filed. The flight was reported overdue the next day and the crash site was found three days after the crash. The wreckage indicated the airplane crashed while in controlled flight. A weather station 32 miles from the crash site reported broken cloud layers at 600 and 7,000 feet, visibility four miles in mist, temperature 15, dewpoint 14 at the time of the crash….

At 17:14 mountain time, a Boeing 777-236 operated by British Airways was damaged during a ground fire at Denver International Airport that killed a ground crew member. No one else was injured. A witness said the fueler had attached the refueling nozzles to the single point refueling lines in the airplanes left wing. He said the flow meter indicated the refueling had begun when a fuel line separated from the airplane and whipped around a bit. A fire ensued….

At approximately 07:15 Pacific time, a Beechcraft 58 struck rising terrain about 10 miles southeast of Ashland, killing the pilot and two passengers. The flight had departed en route to Scottsdale, Ariz., about five minutes earlier and the pilot had been briefed on the weather, but had not filed a flight plan. Dense fog prevailed near the airport. Several witnesses at the airport said they were waiting for the weather to improve before departing….

At 18:39 central time, the pilot of a Piper PA-32R-301 lost control and crashed three miles north-northwest of Spearville. The pilot was killed. IMC prevailed and no flight plan was filed. A witness observed the airplane fly over his house heading southwest, turn south and go into a fog bank. The airplane then came out of the fog heading west and diving to the ground….

About 22:20 eastern time, a Cessna 172R suffered damage to its left wing tip while taxiing in the company parking ramp at Orlando Executive Airport. The flight instructor and student were not injured. The aircraft had just landed and was returning to parking when the propeller of another aircraft operated by the same flight school sliced the accident airplanes wing tip….

At 15:54 central time, a Piper PA-32R-301 broke up in flight near Byhalia. The pilot and passenger were killed. Witnesses said the airplane was in level flight when the left wing separated from the airplane and struck the empennage. The weather was reported as windy but with no rain or thunderstorms….

At 11:26 Pacific time, an Aero Commander 500S struck mountainous terrain on Eagle Peak, killing the four occupants. The flight departed Reno, Nev., about 10:45 on an IFR flight to Wenatchee, Wash. The pilot requested 12,500 feet msl as a cruise altitude and the sector controller informed the pilot that he was unable to clear the flight to that altitude because the minimum enroute altitude for the route segment was 14,000 feet. The pilot then canceled his instrument flight plan and stated that he was VFR on top at 10,500 feet. At 11:26, the controller lost radio and radar contact….

At approximately 09:00 Pacific time, a Cessna 182J struck trees while approaching the Half Moon Bar Lodge airstrip, located about 28 miles northeast of Gold Beach. The pilot suffered minor injuries and the passenger was killed. The pilot said the airplane stalled and struck trees while turning from the base leg to the final approach….