General Aviation Accident Bulletin

Recent general aviation and air carrier accidents.

AVweb'sGeneral Aviation Accident Bulletinis taken from the pages of our sister publication,Aviation Safetymagazine, and is published twice a month. All the reports listed here are preliminary and include only initial factual findings about crashes. You can learn more about the final probable cause in the NTSB's website atwww.ntsb.gov. Final reports appear about a year after the accident, although some take longer. Find out more aboutAviation Safetyatwww.aviationsafetymagazine.com.

March 1, 2018, Pompano Beach, Fla.

Piper PA-32-300 Cherokee Six 300

At about 1051 Eastern time, the air-plane was substantially damaged when it struck terrain during an attempted go-around. The private pilot and the pilot-rated passenger were not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. While climbing through 800 feet MSL shortly after takeoff, the engine's manifold pressure dropped and the engine sounded irregular. After turning back toward the airport, the airplane touched down less than one-third of the way down Runway 28, but a "substantial quartering tailwind" resulted in a high groundspeed. Additionally, although the pilot had retarded the throttle, it appeared the engine was developing full power. Pulling the mixture control to cutoff didn't appear to shut off the engine, so he pushed the mixture to full rich and pushed up the throttle for another takeoff. During the takeoff attempt, the pilot turned sharply right to stay over the airport. The airplane climbed briefly in the turn, then lost altitude, striking the airport ramp about 1,000 feet off the departure end of Runway 28. Recorded weather included wind from 150 degrees at eight knots.

March 4, 2018, Enumclaw, Wash.

Raytheon A36 Bonanza

The airplane was substantially damaged at about 1558 Pacific time following a loss of engine power and forced landing. The solo private pilot was seriously injured. Instrument conditions prevailed; an IFR flight plan was active. While descending through 10,000 feet MSL in IMC, the pilot noticed manifold pressure (MP) had dropped to 10 inches Hg. His attempts to restore power were unsuccessful and about 10 to 15 seconds later, he heard what he thought was a cylinder blow. He then heard the same noise several times, followed by oil covering the windscreen and smoke entering the cockpit/cabin area. He closed off the air coming in from the engine and opened the left cockpit side window, which cleared the smoke. The pilot subsequently landed in a grove of trees before coming to rest on the ground. There was no post-crash fire. The pilot observed the propeller to windmilling throughout the entire event.

March 6, 2018, Churchville, Md.

Cirrus Design SR20

At about 2117 Eastern time, the air-plane was destroyed while landing. The private pilot and passenger sustained minor injuries. Night instrument conditions prevailed. Before takeoff, the pilot's preflight weather briefing determined the destination airport was reporting visual conditions. About 30 minutes prior to arrival, the flight encountered snow. He descended from 9,500 feet MSL to 4,000 feet to get out of the snow and to warmer temperatures. After reaching 4,000 feet MSL, he continued descending and encountered a temperature inversion. With snow accumulating on the airplane, the pilot elected to land at the closest airport. He landed at a slightly higher airspeed than normal. The airplane ballooned during touchdown and drifted off the side of the runway, impacting two equipment trucks. Weather recorded about six miles south of the accident site included wind from 160 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 17 knots, light rain, temperature of four degrees C and a dew point of two degrees C.

March 6, 2018, Paso Robles, Calif.

Piper PA-28R-200 Arrow II

The airplane was substantially damaged at about 2230 Pacific time when it impacted terrain following an emergency landing. The flight instructor (CFI) and the private pilot were not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The CFI reported they heard a "loud tick" noise and the Low Vacuum annunciator light illuminated in the initial climb after a touch-and-go landing. The CFI retracted the landing gear and instructed the pilot to retract flaps. At 350-400 ft above ground level, the airplane lost engine power and the CFI executed an emergency landing to a nearby field. An examination the next day revealed the oil dipstick cap was loose and that the engine contained about one quart of oil.

March 8, 2018, Laredo, Texas

Piper PA-31P Pressurized Navajo

At about 1038 Central time, the airplane impacted terrain during an approach to land. The commercial pilot and student pilot-rated passenger were fatally injured; the airplane was destroyed. Visual conditions existed near the accident site. Shortly after departing Runway 18R, ATC reported smoke was coming from the left side of the airplane. The pilot reported "...we're gonna fix that." The airplane turned back toward the airport and was cleared to land on Runway 18L. Several airport security cameras captured the accident airplane. A review of the video noted a white smoke trail behind the airplane, which stopped as the airplane flew a left downwind for the runway. The airplane initiated a left turn and, as the airplane approached the runway, the bank angle increased. The airplane impacted terrain in a nose-down, near-vertical attitude; a post-crash fire ensued.

March 12, 2018, Madison, S.D.

Cessna 140

The flight instructor decided to take off from the grass runway instead of the concrete runway. About mid-way into the soft-field takeoff, he observed the airplane was "struggling to build airspeed." He reduced power and began to apply the brakes to abort the takeoff, but the airplane overran the runway, impacted a snow bank and nosed over. The instructor added that the runway had previously thawed and was "wet spongy sod." The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

This article originally appeared in the June 2018 issue ofAviation Safetymagazine.

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