Preliminary Reports

At about 12:00 eastern time, a Cessna 210L suffered a catastrophic engine failure while in cruise flight near Bluefield. The pilot made a successful forced landing at Mercer County Airport. The pilot was in cruise flight at 8,000 feet when the engine began to vibrate, the propeller oversped and the oil pressure dropped to zero. The pilot then saw flames coming from the engine cowling and the cockpit filled with smoke. The engine showed a three-inch hole in the engine case. The airplane had been operated for about 4 hours since an annual inspection, at which time the Nos. 1 and 2 cylinder and piston assemblies were replaced and all of the intake and exhaust valve lifters were replaced….

At 21:06 central time, a Cessna 177RG struck trees and crashed a half-mile from Sikeston Airport. The intended cross-country flight was on initial climb after takeoff when it experienced partial loss of power. The pilot and passenger were not injured in the forced landing. The fuel selector was positioned to the left tank, which contained about three gallons of fuel and some water. The right wing contained an unreported amount of fuel….

At 18:42 eastern time, an Aeronca S-65-CA struck wires and crashed during low-level cruise flight in Esperance, killing the pilot and passenger. The accident site was 1 mile from the pilot/owners private strip. Several witnesses said they often saw the airplane flying low down a nearby creek. On this particular pass, one witness, the chief of the local fire department, said the airplane came in low, about 100 feet over his house, climbed over the tree line and then made a steep left turn back into the creek basin, and struck wires suspended 50 feet above the water….

At approximately 13:00 Pacific time, a Cessna U206 suffered a collapsed nose gear after a hard landing at Flying M Airstrip. The pilot was not injured. The pilot said he encountered variable, gusty winds while he was on final for the turf runway. Just about the time he was going to start his flare, he said he encountered an area of rapidly sinking air and the aircraft suddenly fell onto the runway surface. The nose gear fork sheared, allowing the nose gear strut to dig into the ground….

At 23:46 central time, a Piper PA34-220T crashed while maneuvering near Brackettville, killing the pilot and one passenger and leaving two passengers seriously injured. Dark-night IMC prevailed but no flight plan was filed. One surviving passenger said the flight encountered weather. The pilot had called FSS for weather briefings three times before departing and again while airborne….

At 08:50 central time, a British Aerospace HS 125-700A Hawker was substantially damaged when its left wing distorted during a normal descent into New Orleans. No one was injured. The pilot said they were flying at 4,000 feet over Lake Pontchartrain when they heard a bang. The pilots thought that they had experienced a bird strike and asked a mechanic on board to look at the wings. The mechanic reported to the flight crew that the left wing skin and fence were distorted. Post-flight examination revealed that the left wings fuel vent was blocked with duct tape and the wet wing fuel tank had collapsed….

At 17:29 mountain time, a Beech 65-A90 struck water while descending near Lake Point. The pilot and eight passengers were killed. Instrument conditions prevailed and a VFR flight plan had been filed but was never activated. The pilot and passengers had flown to Mesquite Jan. 12 to skydive and were returning to Tooele when the accident occurred. The pilot obtained a weather briefing and filed a VFR flight plan. He advised the briefer he could make [an] IFR approach if necessary. The owner said the airplane was equipped for VFR flight only, and the only navigational receiver on board was a hand-held GPS receiver. Witnesses in the vicinity of the accident site said there was light snow fallin…

At about 10:30 eastern time, a Cessna 152 struck a fence during a precautionary landing in the cow pasture. The student pilot was not injured. The pilot was on the second leg of a solo cross country when the ceiling began dropping. A thunderstorm moved in behind him, so he elected to enter IMC. He momentarily lost control of the airplane, so he descended to just above the treetops. Finally he elected to make a precautionary landing in a field….

About 16:55 eastern time, a Piper PA-46-350 struck a building during a go-around at Barnes Municipal Airport, killing the pilot and leaving two passengers with serious injuries. The air traffic controller on duty at the time said the airplane was sequenced behind two other airplanes for a visual approach to the 9,000-foot runway 20. The airplane was on final approach at about 150 to 200 feet agl when the controller instructed the pilot to go around because the previous airplane had not cleared the runway. The Malibu pilot said he wanted to remain in the pattern and was instructed to make left traffic. The airplane then banked steeply left, almost 90 degrees of bank according to several witne…

At about 20:15 eastern time, a Piper PA-31-350 lost power on both engines and was ditched in Massachusetts Bay. The pilot and eight passengers sustained minor injuries. The pilot said the engines surged slightly on takeoff from Nantucket about 30 minutes earlier. He described the surges as minor but still noticeable. The airplane had descended to 1,500 feet when the right aux fuel pump light flashed intermittently, followed by a total loss of power on the right engine. The pilot could not restore power and feathered the right propeller. The airplane was not able to maintain altitude on one engine. Shortly thereafter, the left engine began surging. The pilot was not able to restore powe…