Preliminary Reports

At 1526 Eastern time, a Smith Aerostar 601P crashed during its initial climb after takeoff from the Charleston Executive Airport, Johns Island, S.C. The commercial pilot and the airline transport pilot-rated passenger received fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. Before the takeoff, the pilot reportedly requested maintenance on the airplane. A witness stated the pilot told him he wanted to fly the airplane to another airport to have the problem looked at before returning to Florida. Later, another witness watched the takeoff, noting that the aircraft appeared to rotate really late, using approximately 4000 feet of runway. He stated the airplane climbed to about 400 or 500 feet,…

At about 0956 Eastern time, the Cirrus SR22 collided with trees after the pilot intentionally activated the airplanes parachute system. The flight originated about six minutes earlier from the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Executive Airport. Shortly after takeoff, the flight encountered IMC at 400 feet. The pilot later reported the vertical speed indicator suddenly decreased to zero, then increased to 2000 FPM, then went back to zero. He reported there was no turbulence. At that point, the altimeter began large deflections. Subsequently, the attitude indicator did not agree with the turn coordinator. After requesting vectors for an ILS approach at the departure airport, the pilot advised the contr…

At 1007 Eastern time, the Cessna collided with trees and the ground near North Augusta, S.C. The private pilot and two passengers received fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight had departed the Aiken (S.C.) Municipal Airport less than 30 minutes earlier, with an intended destination of Greenville, Miss. A preliminary review of radar data revealed that the airplanes flight path exhibited constantly fluctuating altitude, heading and groundspeed and was not following its filed course. As the flight neared the Augusta Regional Airport at Bush Field in Augusta, Ga., the pilot elected to proceed to that airport for landing. An air traffic controller provided the pilot a headi…

At about 1728 Central time, the Aeronica collided with wires while maneuvering in VMC and was substantially damaged. The private pilot and one passenger reported minor injuries. The pilot stated he was flying at 1500 feet in the vicinity of a river. He started a turn when his passenger stated, Watch the wires. The airplane collided with two of four wires and the water in Defeated Creek. The pilot later stated he should have been more alert about his surroundings. The pilot did not report a mechanical problem with the airplane before it collided with the wires and the water….

The Experimental airplane was substantially damaged during an attempted landing on a private airfield at about 1745 Eastern time; the Private pilot was seriously injured. According to the pilot, he performed a touch-and-go landing at his private airfield and, during the climbout, observed fuel venting from the right wing. He then switched the fuel tank selector from the left tank to the right tank. He then flew the downwind leg of the traffic pattern. Subsequently, while turning onto the base leg, the engine lost power. The pilot was able to restart the engine; however, it lost power again shortly after the restart. The pilot then set up for a forced landing, during which the airplane impact…

At about 0645 eastern time, a Gates Learjet 35A was substantially damaged while landing at Oneida County Airport. There were no injuries aboard the Part 135 air taxi cargo flight. The copilot reported that he was the pilot flying at the time of the accident, which occurred after an ILS approach to runway 33. The airplane was too high during the approach, and the copilot decreased engine power. The sink rate then became too great, and the flightcrew initiated a go-around. However, the airplane landed hard on the runway before the engines could spool upand sustained damage to the main landing gear and both wings….

At about 1100 eastern time, a Beech V35B landed gear up at the Stennis International Airport after a local flight. The pilot stated that, while on a practice precision instrument landing, two airplanes flew over the runways thresh old at about 1,000 feet and two helicopters were hovering over the taxiway next to the runway. This activity distracted his attention and he did not lower the landing gear before landing. The airplane landed on its belly and skidded to a stop on the runway….

Shortly before noon eastern time, the ATP-rated pilot attempted to land the Diamond DA-40 at a private field. Neither the pilot nor his passenger were injured. The pilot said he circled the field twice before setting up for a full-flap landing to the south. Despite flying as close as possible to trees on final and performing a slip to lose altitude, the airplane landed half-way down the 2,500 foot-long turf runway. The pilot retracted the flaps, applied maximum braking and then lost directional control during the landing rollout. Both wings were substantially damaged when the airplane impacted a knoll during the runway excursion….

At 0830 central time, a Beech A36 Bonanza was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a loss of engine power five miles north of the Lone Star Regional Airport. The pilot and one of two passengers aboard sustained serious injuries; the other passenger had minor inuuries. Shortly after takeoff, the engine started to misfire and sputter and the pilot turned back toward the airport. At an altitude of 2,000 feet, the engine quit. The FAA inspector who examined the wreckage repoerted that the fuel selector was observed in the right position. A small sample of fuel consistent with 100 low lead fuel was extracted from the left main fuel tank. A four-ounce fuel sample from the…

Shortly after 2200 local time, a Cessna 182P impacted trees and the ground about 5 miles south of the departure airport of Brooksville, Fla. Marginal VMC prevailed at the time. The airplane was destroyed and the non-instrument rated Private pilot was fatally injured. A witness who lived about 1/4 mile from the crash site, heard the airplane fly over his house and said it sounded to be real low. In less than a minute he heard a thud. The witness said at the time he heard the airplane go overhead, it was dark, cloudy and there was light rain, which intensified after he started to search for the airplane….