Search Results for: Lear 45

At 17:15 CDT, a homebuilt Space Walker II crashed after an in-flight separation of the left wing in level flight at the Montgomery County Airport. The pilot and passenger were killed. The airplanes owner said he and the pilot performed two takeoffs and landings on runway 14. Then the owner got out, the accident pilot moved to the aft seat and the passenger took the front seat. The owner assisted the passenger in securing his three-point safety harness and briefed the passenger to remain clear of the flight controls. The pilot took off and flew back over the airport. The owner said the airplane was in level flight at 1,500 feet agl when the left wing broke away and fuselage did snap rotatio…

At about 11:45 EDT, a Mooney M20J on an IFR flight plan struck terrain in Norton, killing the pilot and four passengers. The airplane was cruising at 9,000 feet when the pilot reported he was riding in the tops of the clouds and requested a climb to 11,000 feet. He was cleared to climb to 11,000 and given a frequency change. He reported in on the new frequency at 9,000 feet and was asked if he was going to climb to 11,000. He replied, Roger. No further communications were made and radar contact was lost four minutes later. Wreckage revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunction or fuel exhaustion….

At 17:29 PST, a Cessna 172N and a Piper PA-28-140 collided in mid-air while in the traffic pattern at Palm Springs. The two instructors and three students involved were not injured. The Cessna had been cleared for closed right traffic on runway 31R and was in a turn from crosswind to downwind. The Piper had been cleared into the airport traffic area and told to report two miles out on a 45-degree entry to the downwind for runway 31R. The tower controller had advised the Cessna of a Piper inbound from the northwest, and the Piper had been told of two Cessnas in right closed traffic. The Piper failed to make a position report as instructed. The airplanes collided at about 1,500 feet msl opposi…

The world of charter pilots is different from that inhabited by those who fly for fun, people who use their planes for business travel, or even airline pilots.

Many are contract pilots who get paid when they make a trip, putting pressure on them to complete trips under almost any conditions. They may fly a variety of equipment in varying condition, despite Part 135 rules that may say otherwise.

Charter customers are a demanding lot. They expect airline-style performance with private plane-style convenience. They want to be on time, and they vote with their checkbooks.

With that kind of environment, the safety record of Part 135 passenger flights borders on remarkable. But like any o…

The following briefs were selected from the 224 preliminary reports filed with the NTSB in August 1999. Statements in quotes were taken directly from the NTSB documents. The information is subject to change as the investigations are completed. Click here to view “Accident Totals, August.”

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Aug. 3, Tusayan, Ariz.
Cessna 177B Cardinal
At 14:07 PDT, a Cessna Cardinal crashed shortly after takeoff from Grand Canyon National Park Airport, killing the pilot and one passenger and seriously injuring another passenger. Several pilot witnesses stated that the airplane appeared slow and did not climb much above the trees. Ab…

Im both amused and perplexed by the following excerpts from the September issue.

I recently met an aircraft owner who has been in the aviation business for 30 years, flies 200 hours a year and has accumulated more than 6,000 hours, yet has no instrument rating. When I gently suggested that surely an instrument rating would be a plus, he said he felt safer without it. I find this thinking to be undiluted idiocy. – Paul Bertorelli, page 7.

In some ways, VFR-only pilots can be safer when flying VFR than pilots who hold instrument ratings and sometimes fly VFR, sometimes IFR. VFR pilots often are more self-reliant, while IFR pilots get used to the services provided by the system and mi…

I am a Part 141 commercial student in Southern California. The one person in the world I never would have suspected of unnecessarily risking my life was my flight instructor. I was wrong.

Early in my Commercial training, the syllabus called for a 250 nm solo night flight. (We later found out it was a misprint in the syllabus.) Having very limited night flying experience, I was uncomfortable with a long night solo cross-country. My instructor agreed to accompany me on the flight, as much for moral support as instruction.

Since it was mid-summer and the daylight hours were long, I had to wait until 9 p.m. to take off, after a full days work. My instructor had been on duty since early…

If you fly much over the water – even over wide bays and rivers – youve had to quell the uneasiness that arises when the engine goes into auto rough mode the instant youre beyond gliding range of shore. Not to worry; its not just you.

The prospect of going into the water in an airplane terrifies most pilots, chiefly because few prepare for it and, in general, instructors dont know enough about the relevant risks to make well-informed judgments about overwater flying.

As a result, certain myths and half-truths about ditching seem to persist, handed down from one pilot to the next who read something or knows someone who knew someone who vanished without a trace in Lake Michigan…

With about 125 hours in my log book, I decided to fly with my wife to Tulsa, Okla., for a short summer vacation.

On the way we had many new and exciting experiences: smooth as glass 50 knot tailwinds, cheap fuel and scenery the likes of which we had never seen before. Flying is easy, right?

About 125 miles west of Tulsa, flying at 9,500 ft. we came upon cloud cover unlike anything Id ever seen. The solid deck extended as far as the eye could see north and south, with tops at 6,500 ft.. Not knowing how far east this condition existed, we started to do 360s to think about it.

I called Flight Service and was told the cloud deck extended past our destination. Then I decided to land…

A spectacular four-hour flight that was tracked on television to the bitter end culminated in a near vertical dive to a farmers field near Mina, S.D., in late October. Aboard the Lear 35A were four passengers – including golf great Payne Stewart – and two pilots. Even while the plane was cruising at altitude, it was apparent that the light jet had depressurized, from as yet unknown reasons.

The jet was flying from Orlando, Fla., to Dallas on an IFR flight plan when ATC lost communication with the airplane as it climbed on autopilot through FL370 toward an assigned FL390. It busted the assigned altitude and reached altitudes in the low to mid-forties.

The aircraft did not turn toward t…