Preliminary Reports

At 10:30 CDT, a Champion 7FC struck its right wing on the ground while landing on a private turf airstrip near Powderly. The pilot suffered serious injuries. The pilot said the springs had been removed from the tailwheel assembly and the airplane was uncontrollable during the landing roll. The pilots total flight time was 700 hours, of which 30 hours were in the accident aircraft….

At about 11:39 PDT, a Cessna 177A ditched in Big Bear Lake after losing power. The aircraft was substantially damaged but the pilot was uninjured. The airplane was on a maintenance test flight when the accident occurred. The airplane had not been run for several months when the pilot made an initial test flight, at which time the engine missed and ran roughly. This was the second maintenance test flight after the period of disuse. When the engine quit, the pilot ditched the airplane in shallow water about 50 yards from shore. The pilot crawled out of the cockpit and onto the wing of the aircraft, and waited there until rescued by boaters who had witnessed the accident….

At about 14:00 EST, the wreckage of a Cessna 152 was found on a private grass airstrip in North Stonington. The ATP-rated pilot, who owned the airstrip, was dead at the scene. The plane apparently struck trees and a stone wall on landing. Fuel was found in the carburetor bowl, but sediment consistent with rust was observed at the bottom of the carburetor bowl. The carburetor finger screen and the gascolator screen exhibited evidence of corrosion but were not obstructed. Examination of the airplanes maintenance records revealed that the airplanes most recent annual inspection was performed in October 1991 at a tachometer time of 380 hours. The airplanes tachometer time was observed to be…

At 16:23 EDT, a Piper PA-28R-200 made a forced landing following a loss of engine power near Berlin, seriously injuring the pilot and passenger. An annual inspection had been completed the day before the accident, but an instrument training flight after the release from maintenance had turned up no anomalies. On the day of the accident, the pilot took off but the gear did not retract. He returned to land, and a mechanic adjusted the landing gear. The pilot took off again and made two additional flights, refueling after the second flight. The pilot said that upon leaving Ocean City, the second destination, the airplane lost power. He recalled hearing a clicking sound, but nothing else. The pa…

At about 05:22 EDT, a Piper PA-31-350 Navajo struck trees on approach to Newnan-Coweta County Airport. The two occupants were killed. The flight originated from Charlotte, N.C., about an hour and a half earlier. The pilot made a localizer runway 32 approach and performed a missed approach. The pilot went in for another try. The flight was last observed on radar at 1,600 feet, about two miles south of the airport….

At 21:30 EST, a Cessna 551 struck the ground following a missed approach to runway 10 at the Crisp County Airport, killing the pilot. The flight, which had originated in Dallas, was cleared for a localizer approach to runway 10. A witness near the airport stated that he heard the aircraft fly over but did not see it. The wreckage was found the next day in a heavily wooded area about 2 miles east of the airport. The aircraft impacted trees on a 113-degree heading at about 50 feet above the ground. The aircrafts descent through the trees was about 10 degrees down….

At 16:45 CDT, the pilot of a Cessna 180J lost control on takeoff from the Richter Airport. Neither the pilot nor the parachute jumper passenger were injured. A witness said the parachutist was the first to exit the plane and said the pilots seat slid aft shortly after the takeoff roll was started. The airplane made a gradual left turn off the runway until its right main landing gear tire encountered soft soil next to a gravel road. The airplane turned until it was about 180 degrees from its starting direction and the right main landing gear collapsed….

At about 16:45 EDT, a Piper PA-28-161 Warrior crashed when the pilot aborted a takeoff from a cow pasture. No one was injured. The pilot had flown the rented plane from Orlando, Fla., earlier in the day and landed in the pasture after running out of gas. He got 10 gallons of avgas to put in the plane and helped the farmer remove a fence, at which time he tried to take off. He aborted the takeoff when it looked like he wouldnt make it, but hit trees at the end of the pasture….

At about 15:25 EST, an Aero Commander 500 crashed after departure from Georgetown County Airport. IMC prevailed but the pilot was not instrument rated and had not filed a flight plan. The pilot and passenger were killed. A friend of the pilot stated the pilot had purchased the airplane recently and obtained a multiengine rating. The pilot and his father-in-law flew up VFR from Orlando, Fla., that morning, completing the trip through an area where the ceiling was about 600 feet. The three had lunch and the pilot said they were going to return to ORL that afternoon. The friend tried to convince him to stay until the weather improved. After changing his mind several times, the pilot departed ev…

About 13:00 EDT, a Grumman G-164A struck a moving truck while departing from a dirt road near Burkittsville. The pilot and the driver received minor injuries. The airplane had been taking off and landing most of the day from a 10-foot wide hard-packed dirt road. The driver of the truck was aware that the airplane had been operating from the road, but forgot about the airplane as he turned onto the road to go home. As the truck proceeded over a crest in the road, the airplane passed in front of, and over the truck. The propeller slashed through the hood and roof of the truck and the airplane then touched down hard on the road, sheared off the right main landing gear, and came to rest in a fie…