Accidents

A Geico Skytypers pilot was killed in a crash shortly after takeoff Friday at an airport in eastern Pennsylvania. The pilot, identified as Andy Travnicek, was the only person on board, according to Jacob Schmitt, a supervisor at Luzerne County 911. No injuries were reported on the ground. Travnicek’s T-6 Texan plane was part of […]

A de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver crashed Thursday, August 5, eight miles northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. The pilot and all five passengers were killed. The aircraft is owned by Southeast Aviation, which provides sightseeing tours, including one to the Misty Fjords National Monument. According to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard, an EPIRB (emergency […]

A novice pilot mixes up his airplanes, leading to tragic consequences.

On a Sunday morning in April 2004, an air-ambulance helicopter approaching to land in VFR conditions found a blanket of fog forming over the Ukiah Municipal Airport (KUKI) in California. The automatic surface-observation system reported a 100-foot overcast and visibility between 1 and 1¾ miles. The ATP-rated pilot obtained a clearance for the localizer approach […]

An in-depth look at the accidents that result from loss of power on departure.

Most pilots have at one time or another read an NTSB accident report created by the independent US agency responsible for investigating mishaps in all forms of transportation. And most of us have thought: “Wow. I’d never do anything as crazy as that pilot.” Yet pilots of all categories continue to make mind-numbing mistakes in […]

Three people walked away unscathed on May 12 after a Cirrus SR22 and a Swearingen Metroliner collided in midair about three miles north of the threshold of Runway 17L at Denver Centennial Airport (KAPA) located a few miles southeast of the city of Denver, Colorado. The AvHerald reported the Metroliner—Key Lime Air 970—was inbound to […]

Whatever may be said about the FAA, it produces some useful publications. One of them is Advisory Circular 90-109A, Transition to Unfamiliar Aircraft. Not to be confused with its sister publication, AC 90-89, Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook, AC 90-109A is directed at pilots beginning to fly an airplane of a type with […]

Three men chartered a Beechcraft Bonanza for a late-night flight between Mason City (KMCW), Iowa, and Fargo (KFAR), North Dakota, about 200 nautical miles. The 21-year-old charter pilot’s initial review of the forecast that chilly February evening called for VFR weather with bases along the route at 5,000 feet and visibility of 10 miles. The only […]

I recently selected 32 accident analyses, from the nearly 500 that I have written since I took over Flying’s Aftermath column in 1980, and assembled them into a book called Why? Thinking About Plane Crashes. It’s available from Amazon as a paperback or an e-book. I hope someone will buy it. I would pledge that […]