PiperComanche

The airplane was destroyed when it collided with terrain at about 0725 Mountain time. The airline transport pilot and his sole passenger were killed. Visual conditions prevailed. The U.S. Forest Service located the wreckage the next day, while fighting a wildfire near the accident site. The fire was initially reported the afternoon of the crash.

At about 1901 Eastern daylight time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and terrain while being vectored for an instrument approach at the flights alternate airport. The private pilot and his passenger were killed. Night visual conditions prevailed. During the diversion to the alternate airport, ATC provided radar vectors for the approach. About seven minutes before the accident, the airplane began descending from its cruise altitude of 7000 feet. Shortly thereafter, the pilot issued multiple distress calls to ATC before the airplane was lost from radar. No further transmissions were received from the airplane.

The airplane landed short of the runway at 1901 Pacific time, sustaining substantial damage. The Private pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed for the cross-country flight, which originated from Colorado Springs, Colo. After takeoff, the pilot was unable to retract the landing gear. He diverted to Delta, Colo., to have the landing gear inspected. No mechanical anomalies were noted. The pilot refueled and continued to Rancho Murieta. When he arrived at Rancho Murieta, he lowered the landing gear handle but did not receive a down and locked indication inside the cockpit. He tried to manually lower the landing gear, but it did not fully extend. After flying arou…

At 1357 Central time, the airplane was destroyed on impact with terrain following a loss of control during takeoff from Runway 30 at the William John Bell Airport, (M16). The Instrument-rated Commercial pilot and his two passengers were fatally injured. The flight was intended as a ferry flight to have required maintenance performed. Visual conditions prevailed. All aircraft components of the 1964-vintage airplane were original equipment on the aircraft since new and showed a total time according to the logbooks of 5123 hours. Several witnesses reported hearing abnormal engine sounds during the takeoff. At approximately 100 feet agl, they also heard a pop or bang followed by an immediate rig…

Around 1700 eastern time, a Piper PA-24-250 airplane was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain about 12 miles northeast of West Palm Beach, Florida, during an emergency landing following a total loss of engine power in cruise flight. There were no injuries to the pilot or passenger during what was described as post-maintenance test flight to check various systems and repairs. Work performed on the airplane prior to the flight included replacing the right main fuel tank and reconditioning the right fuel tank selector. The pilot later said he was flying with both the left and right fuel tank selectors in the main position, presumably drawing fuel from both main tanks. A little…

At about 0930 Pacific time, a Piper PA-24-250 lost engine power during cruise and crashed during a forced landing on a highway near Fallon. The pilot was not injured. The local flight departed Fallon Municipal Airport about 0815 and the pilot flew to Lovelock, Nev., to practice takeoffs and landings. He was returning to Fallon when the engine lost power. The pilot said the accident was due to fuel exhaustion….

At 1853 eastern time, a Piper PA-24-250 crashed while maneuvering near Florence. The pilot and two passengers were killed. The instructor-certificated pilot, an instructor passenger and a third passenger were flying from Ormond Beach, Fla., to Bennettsville, S.C., at 5,300 feet when the pilot contacted Florence controllers and asked if there was any VFR weather to the north. The pilot then elected to proceed to Fayetteville, N.C. The controller instructed the pilot to descend to 5,000 feet and join victor airway 56, but shortly afterward the airplanes Mode C altitude indicated 800 feet and the controller advised the pilot to climb. The pilot replied by requesting a diversion to Florence Reg…

At about 1430 Pacific time, a Piper PA-24-250 crashed into several homes in Anaheim Hills following the in-flight separation of the left wing and horizontal stabilizer. The pilot and passenger were killed. The pilot was flying from Prescott, Ariz., to Orange County, Calif., and filed an IFR flight plan in flight near Palm Springs. The flight was level at 3,000 and cleared to intercept the localizer for the ILS approach to runway 19R at John Wayne when the controller noticed the airplane make an unusually hard right turn. The airplane then disappeared from radar. Debris from the airplane was strewn along a path about a quarter mile long. The first piece located in the path was a 6-foot sectio…

At about 09:44 EDT, a Piper Comanche made a gear-up landing at Page Field. The pilot and a passenger were not injured. The pilot said he had a green light indicating his landing gear were down and locked. Tower controllers reported there were three or four times in the recent past when they had to remind the pilot of the airplane to lower his landing gear for landing….

At about 17:00 MST, a Piper PA-24-250 was damaged during an off-airport landing 10 miles south of Jordan Valley. The pilot was not injured. The pilot left Pocatello Regional Airport VFR, with an intended destination of Boise, Idaho. He stated he was planning on flying an instrument approach into Boise due to low ceilings and fog, but had forgotten his instrument approach charts. The pilot attempted unsuccessfully to find a nearby airport where he could land under VFR conditions. Approximately one hour later, the pilot determined that fuel was running low and elected to make a precautionary landing on a road. During the landing roll-out, the aircraft collided with a road marker, damaging a wi…