Aircraft: Folke-Wolf-190 ½ Scale. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Columbus, Ga. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot, 71, had logged about 13,000 hours. He was flying the pattern at a tower controlled airport. After conducting a touch-and-go landing on Runway 24, he advised the controller that he had a partial loss of engine power and intended to […]
NTSB Accidents
Bounced landing for Tri-Pacer
Aircraft: Piper Tri-Pacer. Injuries: None. Location: Napa, Calif. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The airplane touched down in a slight crab, bounced and went off the runway. No pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operations were found during the investigation. Probable cause: The pilot’s inadequate landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing […]
Gusty winds get Cessna
Aircraft: Cessna 180. Injuries: None. Location: Upland, Calif. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The airplane touched down on the centerline, but during the rollout veered to the right. The pilot was able to correct back to the centerline, then a wind gust from the right caused the right wing to lift, which resulted in the airplane tracking […]
First flight, bad flight
Aircraft: Midget Mustang. Injuries: None. Location: Erie, Colo. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The flight was the new owner’s first flight in the airplane. He said the wind was calm when he lined up for takeoff, but as he started the takeoff roll, a left quartering wind blew the airplane off the runway and into a ditch where […]
Go around goes bad
Aircraft: Piper Cherokee Six. Injuries: None. Location: Palo Pinto, Texas. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The accident happened during an attempted go-around. The airplane drifted off the centerline and into trees off to the side of the runway. The pilot told investigators that the airplane was close to stall speed during the go-around, and would not climb. […]
CFIT claims Bellanca Pilot
Aircraft: Bellanca 7GCBC. Injuries: 1 Fatal. Location: Imperial, Neb. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The accident happened around sunrise. The airplane was flying to the east toward rising terrain consisting of rolling hills and valleys. The Bellanca failed to clear the terrain, hitting a hill about 10 feet below its crest. The airplane then crashed and burned. […]
Poor fuel management for Piper
Aircraft: Piper Pacer. Injuries: 1 Minor. Location: McKinleyville, Calif. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: The 150-hour pilot, who had recently bought the Piper, had only five hours in the plane. He was flying his first cross-country in it. He thought the fuel selector was positioned to both tanks, however, it was positioned to the left tank for […]
Overweight airplane, unfamiliar pilot bad combination
Aircraft: Silvaire Luscombe 8A Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious. Location: St. Petersburg, Fla. Aircraft damage: Destroyed. What reportedly happened: The pilot, who had recently purchased the airplane, which he intended to fly as a Sport Pilot, had just resumed flying after a 30-year hiatus. In the weeks before the accident he had been flying with two CFIs to […]
Night approach goes bad
Aircraft: Cessna 172. Injuries: None. Location: Oshkosh, Wis. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: A flight instructor and student pilot were on final approach at the completion of a local night instructional flight. The CFI was to demonstrate the proper pitch attitude and sight picture needed for a landing at night. On short final, just before touchdown, the […]