Preliminary Reports

At 12:30 EST, a Piper PA-28-140 collided with trees during a go-around from an emergency landing area near Aiken, according to the pilot. The pilot and his passenger were not injured. The flight was en route from Suffolk, Va., to Crestview, Fla., with a refueling stop in Saluda, S.C. During the descent from 8,500 feet the engine lost power. The pilot selected a field for an emergency landing and, while on final approach to land, the engine regained full power. The pilot then elected to go-around, but struck trees on the departure end of the proposed emergency landing area. The pilot said the collision with the trees separated the left main landing gear assembly, and the right wing sustained…

At about 11:15 EST a Cessna 310R on a training flight was damaged when it departed the taxiway at the Sullivan County International Airport. No one was injured. The flight had originated in Teterboro, N.J., and was being taxied back to the runway for the return flight with the second pilot, who was in the left seat, at the controls. As the second pilot turned to the runway hold short line, he discovered there were no brakes. The instructor then took the controls and depressed his brakes with no result. The airplane continued to roll, veering to the right into a grass ditch about 20 feet from the taxiway. The airplane came to rest straddling the ditch while being supported by the nose and tai…

The following briefs were selected from the 192 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in August 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, August.”

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August 01, Gypsum, Colo.
Piper Cherokee 180
At approximately 0855 mountain time, a Piper PA-28-180 crashed while maneuvering near Gypsum, killing one passenger and leaving the other three occupants seriously injured. A flight instructor departing behind the accident flight said the airplane used about 5,000 feet to become airbor…

At approximately 0855 mountain time, a Piper PA-28-180 crashed while maneuvering near Gypsum, killing one passenger and leaving the other three occupants seriously injured. A flight instructor departing behind the accident flight said the airplane used about 5,000 feet to become airborne, then began a slow climb toward rising terrain, where it maintained 200-300 feet agl. The airplane crashed about 19 miles from the airport at an elevation of about 10,050 feet msl and a density altitude of more than 13,000 feet….

At 1346 eastern time, a Cessna 182H ran off the departure end of runway 32 at Country Club Airport in Burnsville. The pilot and two passengers were not injured and one passenger received minor injuries. Witnesses said the pilot had attempted two approaches to land before the accident landing, finally touching down on the third try approximately 1000 feet from the departure end of the 2,875-foot runway. The airplane rolled off the departure end of the runway and down an embankment, and onto a dirt road….

At about 2030 eastern time, a Grumman American AA-5B crashed shortly after takeoff from Donegal Springs Airpark, killing the pilot and three passengers. Witnesses said the pilot had trouble starting the airplane and that engine power was intermittent during the takeoff and initial climb. The pilot had bought the airplane about three weeks earlier, and during his initial repositioning flight had experienced trouble starting the engine on at least two legs of the flight. One departure was delayed while the pilot had a mechanic clean and gap the spark plugs and verify magneto operation. Post-crash investigation found the top and bottom spark plugs of two cylinders were oil-soaked….

At 1415 Pacific time, a Beech 58TC crashed after aborting a landing on runway 4 at Catalina Airport. Both occupants were killed. According to the airport operations supervisor, the sky would clear enough for pilots to see the airport, and then the sky would become overcast again in a moment. Two airplanes that landed prior to the accident airplane used runway 22 after circling the airport for 20 minutes. Sky conditions became obscured for runway 22 and the accident airplane circled to land on runway 4. The supervisor said the pilot came in fast and hot and he advised the pilot to go around. Another pilot, a relative of the accident pilot, contacted the accident pilot and told him to go aro…

At about 1230 eastern time, the pilot of a homebuilt Long EZ suffered medical incapacitation and the airplane crashed in the Atlantic Ocean near Marthas Vineyard. The pilot was determined to have died before impact. The pilot was gathering NOAA research data in the purpose-built airplane. He was making low passes over research buoys. The pilot reported no trouble, but another airplane spotted wreckage floating in the water. An autopsy showed the pilot suffered a massive subarachnoid hemorrhage that was too large to determine its origin or its dimension….

At approximately 1430 central time, a Cessna 172 crashed on initial climb near Marietta, leaving three occupants with serious injuries. The airplane apparently took off with a left quartering eight-knot tailwind and struck a tree at approximately 30 feet agl about 100 feet northwest of the runway….

At approximately 1715 central time, a Yakovlev YAK 52 experimental/exhibition airplane crashed while doing low-altitude aerobatics, killing the pilot. Witnesses said the pilot was on the back side of a loop when the airplane descended straight down into the ground….