Accidents

(November 2011) Control Malfunctions — failures of the control systems to work properly — are among the most challenging and frightening difficulties that an airplane can present. One feels able to deal with almost any eventuality, as long as the flight controls work the way they should. But an aileron jammed in a hard-over position, […]

A Cirrus SR20 crashed near Chicago on Sunday, claiming the life of the pilot, his two daughters and their friend when the airplane went down in a soybean field under as yet unknown circumstances. The pilot, Ray Harris of Marion, is shown on the FAA airman registry database as being a private pilot. No instrument […]

It was an accident waiting to happen, say local pilots. The crash of a Turbo Commander in Arizona’s Superstition Mountains on Thanksgiving Eve is reigniting debate over a controversial 2007 redesign of the airspace surrounding Phoenix that many say jeopardizes safety. Video footage purporting to capture the accident as it happened shows the airplane flying […]

Authorities are searching for the pilot or pilots of a marijuana-filled Beechcraft Duke that made a hard landing and skidded off the runway Monday night at Houston Executive Airport in Brookshire, Texas. The twin-engine airplane touched down at around 7:15 p.m. at the uncontrolled airport located 30 miles west of Houston. Investigators said it appears […]

Weather was not a factor in the recent high-profile crash that killed two Oklahoma State University women’s basketball coaches last week, according to NTSB investigators. Former Oklahoma state Senator Olin Branstetter was flying the Cherokee 180 carrying the coaches when it crashed nose-first into a wooded area in central Arkansas on Thursday. All four people […]

Sometimes a standard tie-down just isn’t enough. At least that’s the lesson this guy or gal had to learn the hard way. Check out the video below, reportedly shot in Gelendzhik, Russia, and see what can happen when a standard tie-down is subjected to high winds. To make sure your airplane remains in one piece, […]

A ** Piaggio** Avanti P-180 twin turboprop operated by fractional provider Avantair was destroyed while attempting an emergency landing in Flint, Michigan, on Wednesday when the airplane veered off the runway on touchdown and flipped over, causing minor injuries to the four people on board. The Avanti was en route from Detroit to West Bend, […]

A single-engine accident in Florida recently in which two people died shortly after takeoff reminded me of another high-performance single-engine airplane accident that happened at Santa Monica airport in 2009. A SIAI-Marchetti SF-260C crashed onto the runway shortly after taking off, killing two people onboard. I’m not suggesting that the cause of the accidents were […]

The British Royal Air Force has halted all non-essential flights of aircraft equipped with the same type of ejection seat as the one involved in the recent death of Flight Lt. Sean Cunningham. The 35-year-old Iraq War Veteran died after being ejected from a Hawk T1, which was reportedly parked at the Red Arrows’ base […]

(November 2011) “Safety management system” — the very name sounds intimidating. I have to admit that I was not initially excited about the idea of a safety management system. I figured it was just another complicated set of rules, procedures and acronyms that would require a lot of time while not really accomplishing anything significant. […]