Preliminary Reports

At about 09:20 central time, a Lockheed P-38L-5LD made an emergency landing in a field due to a fire in the left engine in the vicinity of Greenwood. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he was on approach to Greenwood-Leflore Airport when the left engine backfired and started running roughly. The cockpit filled with smoke. Due to the cockpit visibility, he over flew the airport, and conducted an emergency, gear-up landing in a field about five miles west of the airport. Post-crash examination revealed the smoke and flames emanated from the left engine turbocharger….

At approximately 15:30 mountain time, a Piper PA-24-250 struck the runway during initial climb from Telluride Regional Airport. The three occupants were not injured. The pilot said he retracted the landing gear at about 50 feet above the ground and a gust of wind struck the airplane and forced it down onto the runway….

At about 15:10 eastern time, a Piper PA-34-200 struck trees and caught fire while on approach to runway 24 at Flagler County Airport. The commercial rated-check pilot, the commercial rated-pilot, and commercial rated-pilot/passenger reported serious injuries. The flight was intended to give two company instructors multi-engine instructor standardization check rides. The check pilot was in the left seat at the time of the accident, the right seat pilot was taking the check ride. The pilot/passenger was in the right middle seat and was observing. Witnesses said the airplane was flying low above the trees, then pitched nose low, struck trees and crashed on a four-lane road. Post-crash investiga…

At about 18:30 eastern time, a Piper PA-38-112 crashed after losing power immediately after takeoff from North Central Airport. The flight instructor received minor injuries and the student pilot was not injured. As the airplane was climbing through 75 feet, the engine began to sputter. Climbing through 100 feet, the engine lost all power. The CFI turned the airplane toward the airport but could not make the runway. He stalled the airplane into the treetops. The airplane came to rest, suspended by the tree limbs about 20 feet above the ground. Post-accident investigation found no fuel in the mechanical fuel pump, gascolator, and carburetor….

At 15:35 central time, a Beech E55 crashed into a barn and burned during a low-altitude pass. The pilot and passenger survived the crash, but the passenger later died. The airplane had departed Jasper County Airport at 15:30 and made a low pass over a farm before hitting the barn. The airplane traveled through the air another 700 feet, then skidded 100 feet along the ground. VMC prevailed and no flight plan had been filed….

At about 17:00 eastern time, a Boeing A75L300 nosed over during the takeoff roll from runway 27 at Marlboro Airport. The pilot was not injured. Witnesses and the pilot said the airplane made a takeoff roll of about 400 feet and, when the tailwheel came up, the tail just kept rising until the propeller struck the ground. The 15,000-hour pilot said the brakes may have been binding on the takeoff roll….

At approximately 10:53 central time, a Vans RV-6 homebuilt airplane lost power on initial climb from a field and struck trees near Hammond, killing the pilot. Witnesses said the flight departed the airport, lost power and landed in a field about a quarter-mile from the runway. The pilot walked back to the airport and asked people there who owned the field he had just landed on. He said the airplane had a fuel problem. Subsequently he tried to take off from the field. The engine lost power and the airplane spun into the trees….

At about 19:00 eastern time, a Piper PA-28-RT201 crashed on approach to runway 34R at Manassas Regional Airport, killing the pilot. The pilot reported on right base for landing, but controllers lost contact after that. Radar data showed the airplane flew a base leg that would have resulted in a six-mile final, then turned left, away from the runway, and continued the turn 270 degrees so it was inbound again. The ground track roughly corresponded to the GPS Runway 34 approach, even though the flight was being made VFR in visual conditions. The airplane then passed directly over the final approach fix at 1,600 feet until it began a descent 2.3 miles from the runway. When it was 1.1 miles out,…

At about 17:30 Pacific time, a Piper PA-24-250 was damaged in a wheels-up landing on runway 26 at Chino. The pilot was not injured. The pilot told investigators he initiated a go-around on his first attempted landing because the runway wasnt clear. He forgot that he raised his landing gear. He was wearing a new noise-attenuating headset that changed the sounds he normally heard when flying his airplane. He did not recognize the gear warning horn during the accident landing. He recalled that the gear warning horn was still sounding as he removed his headset….

At 15:29 Pacific time, an amateur-built Rotorway Exec helicopter rolled over from a hover at a private airstrip near Placerville. The student pilot, who had just completed building the aircraft, was not injured. The pilot told a deputy sheriff this was the helicopters maiden voyage and that he had lifted one or two feet off the ground and the helicopter rolled left and crashed….