Preliminary Reports

At 16:54 CST, a Piper PA-28-180 crashed while maneuvering near Frisco, killing the two occupants. The flight had originated from the Aero Country Airport in McKinney about 14 minutes earlier. The pilot and passenger were employees of Beal Aerospace Technologies and were buzzing the business. A Beal employee said he went outside to see two co-workers do a fly-by. He reported that the airplane initially flew in from the east approximately 50-60 feet off the ground, then turned away from Beal Aerospace, and then back toward Beal for a second fly-by. During the second pass, the airplane was even lower than before and the airplane struck trees, a telephone wire and a railroad trestle. Other wit…

At 12:26 CST, a Cessna 310Q struck a ditch after an aborted takeoff at the Kestral Airpark. The pilot was not injured. Investigators said the aircraft door popped open during takeoff roll, prompting the pilot to abort the takeoff about two-thirds of the way down the runway. The airplane skidded along the last 250 feet of runway, went into a ditch and struck a fence….

At 14:00 CDT, a Luscombe 8C crashed while attempting an aborted takeoff from Scholes Field Airport. The pilot was not injured. Investigators determined the pilot departed runway 17 with the co-pilots seatbelt wrapped around the co-pilots flight control. The pilot attempted to land on the remaining runway but the right main landing gear collapsed, damaging the right wing. Then the left main landing gear collapsed and the airplane nosed over….

About 11:06 Hawaiian standard time, an experimental modified Convair BT-13A struck a palm tree while filming a movie on Ford Island. The pilot was seriously injured. The airplane had been modified to resemble a Japanese Val dive-bomber. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was the number 3 wingman of a group of three flying in a modified V formation making a low pass over a movie set. The pilots preflight briefing called for wingmen number 2 and 3 to stack up (above) on flight leader number 1. At the termination of the low pass over the movie set, the number 3 airplanes left wing collided with a 40-foot-tall palm tree, severing the outboard 18 feet of the wing….

At 09:32 EST, a Cessna T310R struck a fence after an aborted takeoff from Robertson Field Airport. Neither occupant was injured. The pilot said he and his passenger arrived at the airport at 08:00, and that snow was falling during the drive to the airport. The airplane had been preheated before his arrival, and the airplane started and taxied into position to await its IFR clearance. During the takeoff roll and before reaching midfield, the door popped open and the pilot decided to abort the takeoff. The pilot said that braking initially was good but, as he neared the end of the 3,600-foot runway, he was unable to stop or steer. A flight instructor who witnessed the accident reported braking…

At about 15:50 EST, a Mooney M20C crashed during a forced landing after losing power near Andrews. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The flight departed Richmond, Va., for Knoxville, Tenn., about 2 hours 45 minutes before the accident. The pilot said he saw that possible icing conditions existed as he neared his destination, so he canceled his IFR flight plan to make a visual landing. He was about 70 miles south of his destination when the engine suddenly stopped….

At 06:03 PST, a Cessna 150J struck a guide wire on a radio tower near Redwood City. The pilot was killed. The pilot, who used his plane to commute to work, departed Sacramento for San Carlos Airport. A witness said he watched the accident airplane fly directly over his house to the northeast, away from the airport. The witness, who held a commercial rating, said the airplane was approximately 300 to 400 feet agl and flying at cruise power below a fog bank. Another witness heard the crash. The Redwood City Fire Department responded to the scene and had to initiate a foot search for the airplane due to the dense fog in the area. They said that they initially were unable to see any part of the…

At about 12:35 EST, a Mooney M20M was damaged when it made a forced landing shortly after takeoff from Edward F. Knapp State Airport. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said that a few minutes after takeoff the engine stopped developing full manifold pressure, then the engine lost all oil pressure. The engine began to vibrate, so the pilot shut it down and landed in a field. Examination showed the engines crankshaft seal had been blown outward. Ice was observed in the engine crankcase breather line….

At 14:33 CST, a Mitsubishi MU-2B-26A crashed after takeoff from the San Antonio International Airport. The pilot and passenger were killed. During the takeoff and initial climb, witnesses heard a banging noise and saw the right propeller stop. The airplane reached an altitude of approximately 200 feet agl, banked to the right, entered a nose-low attitude and descended into the ground. The airplane came to rest in a vacant lot one mile north of the airport….

At about 20:03 PDT, a Beech D35 cruised into upsloping mountainous terrain about three miles east/northeast of Agua Dulce, killing the pilot. An acquaintance of the pilot said the pilot intended to fly east to Chandler, Ariz. The accident site is located about a half-mile north of California Hwy 14, which reaches its peak elevation of 3,225 feet msl in the Soledad Pass. The accident sites elevation is about 3,600 feet msl. Nearby weather reports showed a ceiling of 3,200 to 3,400 feet msl….