Preliminary Reports

At 10:55 MDT, a United Express Beech 1900D and a Beech King Air struck each other while taxiing at Denver International Airport. No one was hurt. The United Express flight had landed and the King Air was taxiing for takeoff. The United Express pilot said he saw the King Air on his left side and applied maximum braking and full right pedal. The captain said it did not appear to him that the King Air pilot either saw him or slowed. The King Air departed Denver prior to the arrival of an FAA inspector and attempts to contact the pilot have been unsuccessful….

At approximately 14:30 PST, a Cessna 182S was substantially damaged in a hard landing at Vista Field. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The flight was en route IFR from Valley Center, Calif., to Pasco, Wash., and had been cleared for the ILS runway 21R approach. While on the approach, the aircraft encountered icing conditions and diverted to Vista Field. There it suffered a hard landing due to ice accumulation. The pilot had received his instrument rating less than six months earlier. DUATS weather reports accessed by the pilot showed the approach would have taken place in icing conditions….

At approximately 11:18 PST, a Hiller UH-12E suffered an inflight separation of a control rotor, after which the helicopter struck power lines and crashed. The pilot and one passenger were seriously injured; a third occupant was not injured. The pilot said he was on a fish-spotting mission at about 400 feet when the helicopter began vibrating. He raised the collective and tried to increase RPM, but the control rotor then departed the aircraft and the vibration became so severe that he thought the engine would vibrate off of its mounts. The pilot reported that he was about 75 feet agl when he saw the power lines, but did not feel he had sufficient control authority to evade them. He maintained…

At about 12:00 EDT, a Cessna 150F crashed on takeoff from Currituck County Airport, killing the two occupants. Witnesses reported that the airplane was about 10 to 20 feet agl, just past the midfield of runway 04, with full flaps extended. It climbed to about 70 to 100 feet as it approached trees at the departure end of the runway and was well below the tree line. The aircraft then appeared to settle and entered a left spin, crashed and burned….

At 12:48 MDT, a Cessna 172R struck rising terrain at Independence Pass near Aspen. The pilot was killed and the two passengers were seriously injured. The airplane took off from Aspen and climbed toward the pass. A witness said the aircraft was flying slowly with a nose-high attitude when it struck terrain. The accident site was at 11,948 feet msl in a narrow valley. Density altitude at the site was calculated to be 14,100 feet msl at the time….

At about 08:50 EDT, a Cessna 150G crashed in IMC while on a VFR flight plan near Greeneville. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the pilot suffered minor injuries. The flight had originated from Blountville, Tenn., about 20 minutes earlier. The pilot said he became disoriented when he encountered the weather but regained control by flying by reference to instruments. He turned back to Blountville, where he believed the weather was better. While cruising in the clouds, he struck rising terrain….

At about 12:58 EST, a Cessna 150M lost power and suffered substantial damage in a forced landing near Jacksonville. The CFI and the student pilot aboard were not injured. The flight originated from Myrtle Beach, S.C., 1:28 before the accident. The CFI said the student pilot preflighted the airplane and determined the fuel tanks were full before departing on a cross country flight from Jacksonville to Myrtle Beach. They did not purchase fuel in Myrtle Beach and were returning to Jacksonville when the CFI noticed the fuel gauges were near empty. He asked the student pilot again if the fuel tanks were full when they departed OAJ, and he replied they were. The airplane was at 3,500 feet when the…

At about 15:50 EST, a Cessna 152 crashed during takeoff from a private grass strip in Rising Sun. The two CFIs aboard were uninjured. One CFI was giving a biennial flight review to the other. After about 15 minutes of performing maneuvers in the local practice area, the pilots decided to perform touch-and-goes at a nearby private grass strip. They determined the winds were from the northwest at 5-10 knots and landed on runway 31. The strip sloped uphill, with power lines at the departure end and trees at the approach end. The flying CFI tried to make a short-field takeoff but the other CFI aborted the attempt. The flying CFI then taxied to the end of the strip and tried to take off in the op…

At 13:20 PDT, a Cessna 172P and an RV-6A collided in mid-air about six miles east of Pangborn Memorial Airport. Both aircraft received minor damage but the two occupants of the Cessna and the pilot of the RV-6A were uninjured. The Cessna had departed from Wenatchee about one hour prior to the collision for the local instructional flight and the RV-6A had just taken off from Wenatchee. The Cessna was on the VOR-A approach to Wenatchee, inbound on the 285 degree radial and near the final approach fix. The instructor was just about to announce their location and intentions on the Unicom frequency. The pilot of the RV-6A reported that he had announced his departure from runway 30 on Unicom, made…

At 17:56 CDT, a Cessna Cardinal was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Austin. Neither occupant was injured. The flight had originated from Austin about two hours earlier. The pilot said the fuel gauges indicated about half full prior to takeoff. An FAA inspector found both fuel tanks were empty after the forced landing….