Preliminary Reports

At 07:30 mountain time, a Piper PA-32RT-300 made an emergency landing on a dirt road approximately 30 miles northeast of Rock Springs after losing engine power. The pilot and his three passengers were not injured. The cross-country flight had been in the air for one hour and 15 minutes when the engine failed catastrophically, coating the windshield with oil. Because of reduced vision and the unknown condition of the roadway, the pilot elected to land with the gear retracted….

At about 10:05 eastern time, a Cessna 152 struck a standing Beech 35-B33 at Herlong Airport. The commercial-rated pilot in the Cessna and the three occupants of the Bonanza were not injured. The Cessna pilot said he was running the engine on the parking ramp in an attempt to clear some roughness prior to flight. The Bonanza pilot and passengers had boarded, but the engine had not yet been started. The Cessna pilot said his feet slipped off the brakes and the airplane moved forward and struck the Bonanza….

At 13:45 eastern time, an Aeronca 11AC lost power shortly after takeoff from Brewer Airport and was damaged during the ensuing forced landing. The pilot suffered minor injuries. The pilot said he had onboard fuel approx. 2.5 hours. The pilot hand-propped the engine and conducted two engine runups before taking off on runway 01. The engine quit at about 150 to 200 feet and the pilot landed to the right of the runway. An inspection revealed the fuel system had not been compromised. The forward fuel tank was empty and an aft-mounted fuel tank, which was used for level flight only, contained an unknown quantity of fuel. Nine days later the airplane was again examined in a salvage yard. The gas…

At about 17:03 eastern time, a Mooney M20C lost power and was damaged in a forced landing in a field near the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Airport. The two people aboard were not injured. The pilot reported the cross-country flight had proceeded normally until he applied carb heat and reduced power to descend. The engine began to run roughly and the airplane would not maintain altitude. The outside air temperature was -12 degrees C and the cabin heater was on. In the Mooney M20C, the carb heat and the cabin heat draw hot air from the same shroud around the muffler. The airplane was not equipped with a carb ice detector….

At 19:45 eastern time, a Piper PA-22-108 was last observed in the vicinity of Falmouth. The airplane has not been located and the pilot is presumed dead. The pilot contacted controllers at Norwood Mass., at about 16:00, asking for a special VFR departure clearance to the southwest. The controller observed what appeared to be up to 2 inches of slush and snow on the airplanes wings and control surfaces as well as ceilings of 400 feet and denied the clearance. The pilot departed runway 17 without a clearance and turned southwest along Interstate 95. The pilot reported clear of the airports class Delta airspace within five minutes. Over the next several hours, several witnesses saw the air…

At about 08:30 eastern time, a Cirrus SR-22 lost engine power and crashed into a farm field. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The pilot said he was using the airplanes stormscope to avoid thunderstorms when he inadvertently entered a convective buildup. The engine quit and the pilot could not get it restarted….

At about 16:25 central time, a Steen Skybolt I crashed near Germantown after losing power. The pilot was not injured. The flight took off about 10 minutes before the accident. Investigators found about three ounces of fuel in the tank. The said he thought he had at least 12 gallons of fuel aboard at takeoff when he actually had 4 gallons….

At about 09:00 eastern time, a Beech BE-55 crashed near Xenia, killing the commercial pilot and the multi flight instructor. Witnesses reported hearing engines sputtering and saw the airplane in a flat spin as it descended toward the cornfield. The landing gear and flaps were extended. The left and right throttle levers were found in the idle position. The left mixture control was found in the lean position, and the right mixture was mid-range. The left propeller lever was found in the mid-range position, and the right lever was found just forward of the feather position. The commercial pilot was scheduled for a lesson on engine-out procedures, including the effects of various airspeeds and…

At 13:03 mountain time, a Beech 200 made an intentional wheels-up landing at Greeley-Weld County Airport. The pilot and five passengers were not injured. After takeoff from Broomfield, Colo., the pilot heard a noise while retracting the landing gear and noticed a gear in-transit indication. He attempted to cycle the landing gear, but had no success. Attempts to extend the gear manually also failed. The pilot circled the area for nearly five hours to burn off fuel, then diverted to Greeley for the wheels-up landing. Damage was confined to the landing gear doors, antennae, and one propeller tip….

At approximately 17:45 central time, a Cessna 152 and a Cessna 172P collided in flight near Platter. The flight instructor and student in the 152 were killed. The 172 landed without further incident and the two occupants were uninjured. The pilot of the 172 said he was in cruise flight at 3,500 feet when he felt a thud near the rear of the airplane. He then felt air coming into the cabin from the left door and recognized that the airplane required excessive right rudder to maintain directional control. He dialed in 7700 into the airplanes transponder, declared Mayday on 122.8, and landed at Sherman Municipal Airport. The pilot said that at no time prior to the collision, during the coll…