Preliminary Reports

At 1836 Pacific time, a Piper PA-28-140 struck terrain while on approach to Tehachapi Municipal Airport. The pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. The flight departed Long Beach for Redding, but diverted to Tehachapi due to weather en route and at Redding. The pilot stated that he was approaching the airport on the extended centerline on a long final. He noticed a red light between his airplane and the runway and thought it was another airplane. He followed the light to the airport. As he got closer, he saw that the red light marked terrain and he immediately made a sharp, right, climbing turn to avoid contact. However, the airplane impacted the mountain and came to rest inverted on…

The following briefs were selected from the 118 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in January 2003. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, January.”

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January 01, Milford, Utah
AMD CH2000
At approximately 2200 mountain time, an AMD CH2000 crashed 7.1 miles southeast of Milford, seriously injuring the instrument student and instructor. The airplane was flying from Cedar City to Salt Lake City and had filed an IFR flight plan to be activated at Delta, Utah. VMC prevailed at the…

The following briefs were selected from the 117 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in November 2002. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, December.”

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December 01, Brevard, N.C.
Cessna 182
At about 1025 eastern time, a Cessna 182J struck a ditch during an aborted takeoff at Transylvania County Airport. The pilot and two passengers reported serious injuries. The pilot said he was on the takeoff roll on runway 27 and ready to rotate when he discovered the flight controls woul…

At about 1025 eastern time, a Cessna 182J struck a ditch during an aborted takeoff at Transylvania County Airport. The pilot and two passengers reported serious injuries. The pilot said he was on the takeoff roll on runway 27 and ready to rotate when he discovered the flight controls would not move. He was about two-thirds of the way down the 2,903-foot runway when he retarded the power and applied the brakes. The airplane overran the departure end of the runway….

At 1345 central time, a Cessna 172M nosed over in a field during a precautionary landing near Vici. The pilot was not injured. The pilot reported that, while flying from Liberal, Kan., to Oklahoma City, he encountered ice throughout the airframe. He made an unscheduled landing at Woodward, Okla. After removing some of the ice, the pilot departed Woodward and again headed for Oklahoma City. He was cruising at 115 mph when he encountered freezing rain. Over the next 20 miles, the pilot observed the indicated airspeed decay progressively to 80 mph. He then initiated a descent to maintain 80 mph and diverted to Vici Municipal Airport. When he could no longer maintain 80 mph, he elected to land i…

At 1407 eastern time, a Piper PA-28-161 crashed into a hangar while taxiing for parking. The pilot was not injured. The pilot stated he was taxiing between a parked airplane and the hangar when he applied left rudder to stop his turn. At that point, he inadvertently stepped on his headset cord and his head was jerked downward. While he attempted to untangle his head from the headset cord, the airplane continued forward and collided with the hangar….

At 1732 eastern time, a Cessna 210M on a Part 135 cargo flight was damaged during an emergency landing at Lunken Field. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was approaching Owensboro, Ky., for landing when he selected the gear down and his right leg was sprayed with hydraulic fluid. The gear down-and-locked light did not illuminate. He aborted the landing and circled while he and ground personnel tried to solve the problem. He then diverted to Lunken Field, where the charter company has a maintenance base, where ground personnel were able to see that the main gear were dangling. He secured the engine and landed on runway 07, but the airplane veered off the right side of the runway an…

At about 2040 eastern time, an amateur-built Fourwind 192 struck the Federal Reserve building in Miami. The two occupants, both pilots, were killed. The flight had departed Marathon, Fla., about 40 minutes earlier. As the airplane was transitioning north through the Miami Class B airspace and receiving VFR advisories from Approach, controllers saw it alter its course to the southeast without explanation. The controller failed to establish communications with the flight and it crashed into the building about three minutes later….

At 1957 eastern time, a Piper PA-32-300 crashed after losing engine power near Macon. The pilot and three passengers were killed, and one passenger suffered minor injuries. The pilot was on an IFR flight plan when he reported to controllers that he had smoke in the cockpit. He was given radar vectors to the nearest airport but reported he had lost engine power and could not make it to the airport. The controller told him of a nearby highway and the pilot said he was looking for it. The airplane struck trees on the way down….

At approximately 0954 central time, a Beech BE-58 crashed after an uncontrolled descent near Egypt, killing the pilot. The pilot was on an IFR flight plan from Cherokee Village, Ark., to Jonesboro, Ark., with a planned time en route of 35 minutes and six hours of fuel on board. His preflight weather briefing included reports of low ceilings and pilot reports of icing from 2,300 feet to 3,300 feet. There was also an Airmet for icing and turbulence. Shortly after takeoff the pilot reported icing at 4,800 msl and requested a descent to 4,000, which was approved. A few minutes later, he asked for a deviation to land at Walnut Ridge Regional Airport and was cleared for an instrument approach into…