Preliminary Reports

At 1448 eastern time, a Boeing PT-17 struck trees while the pilot and passenger were performing an operational check of airframe-mounted cameras near Franklin Macon County Airport. The pilot was killed and the passenger suffered serious injuries. A witness said he saw the airplane flying in the valley below his vantage point on his balcony. He stated that the engine was missing and back-firing….

At 1727 central time, a Cessna 172 and a Piper PA-28-181 collided in mid-air near Lake Elmo. The flight instructor in the Cessna was killed and the student pilot received serious injuries. The pilot and passenger in the Piper were killed. The Cessna had departed the Downtown St. Paul Airport on an instructional flight and was en route to Lake Elmo Airport. The Piper departed the South St. Paul Municipal Airport and was en route to Silver Bay, Minnesota….

At 1930 central time, a Cessna 182 nosed over while landing on runway 36 at the Cady Aerial Airport. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The pilot had released four parachute jumpers at 11,000 feet and was planning to refuel at Cady. The wind was reported as 230 at 3 knots, so the pilot concluded either end of the runway would work. He extended his downwind to lose altitude, but he was still high and fast on final. The airplane landed approximately halfway down the 2,500-foot runway, overran the end of the runway, and nosed over. The pilot said he should have performed a go-around….

At 1540 eastern time, a Beech 1900D operating as a U.S. Airways Express flight, crashed into water near Yarmouth, killing the two pilots aboard. The flight was a nonrevenue positioning flight. The flight departed runway 24 at Hyannis, destined for Albany, N.Y., and the crew reported a runaway trim. The airplane climbed in a left turn to about 1,100 feet and the controller cleared the pilots to land on any runway. Witnesses observed the airplane in a left turn, with a nose-up attitude. The airplane then pitched nose-down, and impacted the water at an approximate 30-degree angle. The flight data recorded showed the airplanes pitch trim was 2 degrees negative at takeoff and then reached a 7-de…

At 1651 central time, a Pilatus PC-6 crashed following an uncontrolled descent approximately 14 miles northeast of Vigo Park. The pilot bailed out and was not injured. The pilot said he was in cruise flight at 12,500 feet msl, the airplane experienced clear air turbulence. The pilot stated he reduced the throttle to idle and initiated a decent. Subsequently, the airplane pitched nose down to a nearly vertical attitude. The pilot said he accidentally placed the throttle into a reverse pitch state, and was unable to bring the power back up. After the airplane attained a rate of descent of 12,000 feet per minute, the pilot bailed out and deployed his parachute….

At approximately 0815 Pacific time, the pilot of an experimental Petz Flying Boat lost control and crashed about 660 feet south of New Jerusalem Airport. The pilot was killed. Circumstances of the crash are uncertain. The NTSB report lists an inaccurate estimated time of departure, so it is unclear whether the airplane crashed on takeoff or was returning at the time of the accident. Family members said this was the first flight of the airplane, which was designed and built by the pilot….

At approximately 1630, a Cessna 650 suffered failure of its right wing aileron cable while in cruise flight at FL390 approximately 200 miles southeast of Rapid City. The airplane landed without further incident. The pilot reported the airplane was in cruise flight with the autopilot engaged when it suddenly rolled to the right. He disconnected the autopilot and rolled wings level, noting that it took left control wheel deflection to maintain wings level. Initial inspection revealed the right aileron cable failed near the outboard pulley just prior to the bellcrank….

At about 1146 eastern time, a Piper PA-25-235 and a Robinson R22 Beta collided in flight at North Palm Beach County General Aviation Airport. The pilot of the Piper sustained serious injuries. The flight instructor and pilot-rated student of the Robinson helicopter both sustained minor injuries. The pilot of the glider being towed by the Pawnee released and landed uneventfully. The helicopter instructor said she announced on the common frequency that she would be making a 180-degree autorotation to runway 8L. She said she saw the Pawnee and glider in position and holding on runway 8L. She continued the autorotation and recovered to a hover, at which time she felt the impact. The Pawnee pilot…

At 0001 central time, a Beech BE-76 was damaged during a loss of control while in cruise flight near Hammond. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was IFR en route from Watertown, S.D., to Moline, Ill., at 7,000 feet when the pilot saw a lightning flash and encountered severe turbulence. The pilot said he pulled back on the yoke to maintain assigned altitude when the airplane went into a spin. He recovered the airplane at about 3,000 msl, returned to level flight and climbed back to his assigned altitude. After an uneventful landing, he discovered damage to the airplanes wings….

At about 1648 eastern time, a Piper PA-31 suffered a loss of control and crashed at Clearwater Air Park. The pilot-in-command seated in the right front seat and the pilot-rated passenger in the left front seat were killed. A pilot-rated passenger sustained serious injuries. A witness said he saw the airplane on what he thought was final approach to runway 16, but the airplane was very low. The witness reported the airplane made a, sudden, sharp turn to the left. Another witness who was located a quarter-mile from the accident site said the airplane was flying eastbound at a very slow airspeed and banking and yawing left and right. He said it appeared the pilot was executing a go-around…