The commercial pilot was conducting a cross-country flight to deliver the airplane to a maintenance
facility. The airplane departed with full fuel tanks. The pilot stated that, as the airplane neared the
planned fuel stop airport, he thought that there was adequate fuel remaining to reach the maintenance
facility, so he did not stop to refuel and continued to the destination. About 4 hours 23 minutes into the
flight, which was past the expected fuel exhaustion time of about 4 hours 18 minutes (assuming a fuel
burn of 50 gallons per hour, which the pilot used for his initial flight planning), the pilot declared an
emergency and advised an air traffic controller that the airplane was out of fuel. The controller provided
information to the pilot about nearby airports, but the airplane would not have been able to reach any of
them, so the pilot initiated a forced landing to a field. Before touchdown in the field, the pilot descended
to avoid power lines ahead, but the airplane hit one of the lines. The airplane touched down in the field,
impacted an embankment, and came to rest upright on a road. The airplane sustained substantial
damage.
Category: Non-Fatal
The commercial pilot of the single-engine turboprop airplane reported that he was preparing to release
skydivers when he noticed that the engine torque indication was in the red arc. Specifically, the gauge
was indicating a torque of 70 pounds per square inch (psi) when it should have been indicating about 25
psi; the maximum allowed torque indication was 64.5 psi. The skydivers jumped uneventfully. As the
pilot was returning to the airport, the torque gauge was indicating 80 psi while the engine was at idle. At
that time, the pilot decided to perform a precautionary engine shutdown and land with no engine power.
During the landing, the airplane was fast and touched down about halfway down the 3,402-ft-long
asphalt runway. The pilot applied heavy braking, but the airplane traveled about 1,000 ft beyond the
departure end of the runway before coming to rest upright in a field with a collapsed left main landing
gear.
According to the pilot of the tricycle landing gear equipped airplane, he was performing skydiving
operations. He reported that he felt rushed in performing his assigned duties because, “the skydiving
school kept wanting me to return quicker for the next load.” The pilot recalled that after dropping the
sky divers, he made his approach to land; the airplane ballooned during the flare, and landed hard on all
three landing gear. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the firewall.
The pilot stated that he was conducting a skydiver “jump run”, and prior to letting the skydivers out the
radio squelch interrupter failed causing a constant static noise. After letting the skydivers out over the
airport the pilot set up the descent based on the winds acquired for the previous landing on runway 22.
As he circled for landing the manifold pressure indication “dropped off” to zero. The pilot was unsure if
he had a partial power loss or a gauge failure. He could not hear or feel the engine indications because of
the static noise on the radio squelch and descent profile, so he committed to a power off glide path for
his approach. The pilot stated that the airplanes approach speed was about 100 knots prior to the
threshold for landing. The airplane touched down beyond the threshold and as the pilot applied full
braking the airplane “ballooned” back into the air. The pilot attempted to stop the airplane but was
unsuccessful and exited the runway, coming to rest after colliding with a ditch.
On July 19, 2015, about 1515 universal coordinated time, a Cessna 206G, HC-CLR, was destroyed by collision with terrain during a forced landing following a loss of engine power during descent to Edmund Carvajal Airport (XMS), Macas, Santiago, Ecuador.
The commercial pilot was conducting a local skydiving flight with four skydivers. After the airplane
climbed to 3,800 ft, one of the skydivers deployed, and at 11,000 ft, the remaining three skydivers
deployed. The pilot stated that the procedure for deploying skydivers was to input 10° of flaps before the
skydivers’ deployment. After the last skydiver exited the airplane, the pilot closed the door and started to
retract the flaps from 10° to 0°. The pilot heard a “metallic” snap, and the airplane went into a spin. The
pilot recovered the airplane from the spin about 7,000 ft. He discovered that the right flap was partially
deployed about 5° down and appeared to be crooked in its track. In addition, he noted a vibration from
the right flap with restricted aileron control. The pilot stated that lateral control was difficult to maintain.
After a radio conference with a mechanic and about 30 minutes of trying to control the airplane, the pilot
chose to bail out of the airplane; he maneuvered the airplane over unpopulated farmland, shut down the
engine, and parachuted. The pilot watched the airplane circle after his parachute deployed. The pilot
landed and did not sustain injuries; the airplane impacted terrain and sustained substantial damage.
The pilot reported that the accident flight was his second skydiving flight of the morning and that the
airplane was performing “normally” as it had during the first flight. During climbout, he noted that the
engine cylinder head temperatures were in the “normal” range. When the airplane reached about 4,000 ft
mean sea level, the engine experienced a total loss of power, and, about 1 minute later, the propeller
stopped windmilling. The pilot conducted an off-airport landing to a nearby highway. During the
landing roll, and to avoid impacting vehicles on the highway, the pilot guided the airplane onto the
median, and the wings and horizontal stabilizer impacted several road signs, which resulted in
substantial damage to the airplane.
The commercial pilot reported that, during a skydiving flight, the engine experienced a total loss of
power during final approach for landing. The pilot initiated a forced landing to a field, and during the
landing sequence, the airplane impacted a tree.
No fuel was observed in the fuel tanks or fuel lines during recovery of the wreckage. Postaccident
examination revealed no mechanical failures or malfunctions that would have precluded normal
operation of the airplane. The company fuel log indicated that about 18.2 gallons of useable fuel were
onboard the accident airplane before the first flight of the day; the accident occurred during the third
flight.
The commercial pilot reported that he maneuvered back toward the airport to land after dropping
skydivers. During the approach for landing, about 1,000 ft above the airport, the engine experienced a
total loss of power. The pilot was unable to restart the engine and subsequently initiated a forced landing
to the desert floor.
The pilot reported that, during the postmaintenance test flight, the turboprop engine lost power. The
airplane was unable to maintain altitude, and the pilot conducted a forced landing, during which the
airplane was substantially damaged.
The engine had about 9 total flight hours at the time of the accident. A teardown of the fuel pump
revealed that the high-pressure drive gear teeth exhibited wear and that material was missing from them,
whereas the driven gear exhibited little to no visible wear. A metallurgical examination of the gears
revealed that the damaged drive gear was made of a material similar to 300-series stainless steel instead
of the harder specified M50 steel, whereas the driven gear was made of a material similar to the
specified M50 steel. Subsequent to these findings, the airplane manufacturer determined that the gear
manufacturer allowed three set-up gears made from 300-series stainless steel to become part of the
production inventory during the manufacturing process. One of those gears was installed in the fuel
pump on the accident airplane, and the location of the two other gears could not be determined. Based
on the evidence, it is likely that the nonconforming gear installed in the fuel pump failed because it was
manufactured from a softer material than specified, which resulted in a loss of fuel flow to the engine
and the subsequent loss of engine power.
A de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane, N30EA, collided with another Twin Otter airplane, N70EA,
on the runway. The pilot of N30EA reported that, once she started the engines, the airplane rolled
forward and to the left 180 degrees because the steering-tiller had been positioned sharply to the left
when the airplane was last parked. The pilot stated that, when she applied the brakes, there was no
response, and the airplane subsequently collided with the right wing of N70EA. The pilot of N30EA
reported that, after the collision, she noted that the hydraulic circuit breaker was open; this would have
resulted in insufficient hydraulic pressure to control the parking or pedal brakes. The pilot of N30EA
said that she should have noticed that the hydraulic circuit breaker was open before she started the
engines because it was part of the Before Starting Engines checklist.
The pilot reported that, shortly after the skydiving flight departed, the engine experienced a “mechanical
failure” and that he then executed a forced landing in a farm field south of the airport. The airplane
nosed over in the mud, which resulted in structural damage to the airframe.
During a postaccident test run of the engine on the airframe, lower-than-normal exhaust gas temperature
indications were observed on the engine’s left-side (Nos. 2, 4, and 6) cylinders. Excessive soot and
smoke were also observed on the engine’s left side. During a subsequent test run, the engine initially did
not achieve full power. Further examination revealed that both of the No. 2 cylinder intake valve springs
were fractured, and visible rust was observed on the surfaces of the springs. The springs showed
evidence of fatigue fractures that had originated from rust pits on the fracture surfaces. After the valve
springs were replaced, the engine was capable of operating normally at full power.
Inside video of the accident.
A plane carrying parachutists crashed in the municipality of Igarassu, PE. The aircraft broke in half and the occupants suffered mild to moderate injuries.
While climbing through 2,500 feet after takeoff, the pilot observed a red-tailed hawk approaching the
airplane from below. The hawk impacted the left wing, and the pilot elected to perform a precautionary
landing. The airplane subsequently landed without incident. Postaccident examination by a Federal
Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the left wing.
The pilot was on final approach when the engine started to run out of fuel. She said her boss
had a similar problem on a previous flight, and had to correct for it by pitching the nose up and
down to force fuel into the fuel lines. The pilot recalled pitching the nose up and down but
nothing after that. A witness, who saw the airplane pitching up and down several times before
it impacted the ground, responded to the crash. He noted that the fuel selector was set to the
"both" position and no fuel was leaking from either fuel tank’s gas cap. When the
airplane was righted, the witness said he saw several gallons of fuel drain from the left tank but
not the right tank. When he visually checked the right fuel tank, it was empty. The left tank had
about 9 gallons (about 6.5 gallons usable) still in the tank. A postaccident examination of the
airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed the airplane sustained
substantial damage to the firewall, forward engine mounts, right wing and vertical stabilizer
and rudder. About 6 gallons of fuel was drained from the left wing tank and the right tank was
empty. A review of the terrain where the airplane impacted the ground revealed the vegetation
around the left tank was discolored from fuel, but the area around the right tank was not. No
pre mishap mechanical discrepancies were noted with the engine or airplane that would have
precluded normal operation.
According to the pilot’s report, he leveled the airplane about 11,000 feet and established a speed of 80 mph with 10 degrees of flaps extended. When the last skydiver exited the airplane, its nose pitched up. The pilot pushed forwarded on the control wheel and added full engine power
The pilot stated that the purpose of the flight was to make numerous takeoffs and transport skydivers to
an adequate jumping altitude. The first takeoff was uneventful, and after the skydivers egressed the
airplane, the pilot returned back to the airport. During the landing, the airplane bounced three times
down the runway. The pilot taxied to the hangar and without shutting down the engine, boarded the
second load of skydivers. Shortly thereafter, the pilot departed and during the initial climb, he attempted
to retract the landing gear. The landing gear would not retract and the pilot decided to continue the flight
with the landing gear extended. After the skydivers jumped, the pilot landed without incident. He taxied
back to the hangar and shut down the engine. After exiting the airplane he noticed that the propeller tips
were bent. As a result of the impact, the firewall was substantially damaged.
According to the commercial pilot, following a skydiving operation, he returned to the airport. During
the landing attempt and as the airplane was about 15 ft above ground level, the airplane banked left and
the left main landing gear (MLG) then contacted the turf runway, so he immediately performed a goaround.
Ground personnel subsequently contacted the pilot via radio to inform him that the left MLG
had separated from the airplane. The pilot then performed an emergency landing, and, during the landing
roll, the left wing contacted the runway, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing spar.
The pilot reported that, during the descent, he applied carburetor heat but that he then removed
carburetor heat when leveling off. The pilot reduced the throttle to slow the airplane while on final
approach. When he advanced the throttle to maintain airspeed, the engine power did not increase; the
pilot was unable to restore full engine power. The engine subsequently lost all power when the pilot
applied carburetor heat. During the forced landing to a field, the nose landing gear and propeller
contacted a barbed wire fence, and the airplane then nosed down, impacted the ground, and nosed over.
A postaccident examination revealed no mechanical failures that would have resulted in the loss of
engine power. The atmospheric conditions at the time of the accident were conducive to the formation of
serious carburetor icing at glide power. It is likely that carburetor ice developed after the pilot reduced
the engine power/closed the throttle while in the traffic pattern without applying carburetor heat, which
resulted in a loss of engine power. The manufacturer’s before landing checklist states to apply carburetor
heat before closing the throttle.
[box]SUPERIOR, Wis. – Two planes carrying skydivers collided in midair Saturday evening in far northwest Wisconsin, but no major injuries were reported. Full story…
Video of the collision from NBC News
[/box]
DD.com Blog discussion.
On September 29, 2013, about 1530 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182J, N3078F, landed short of the runway at Dona Ana County Airport, Santa Teresa (5T6), New Mexico, after the engine lost power. The pilot, the sole occupant on board, was not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 as a skydiving flight.
On September 14, 2013, about 1224 mountain standard time, a Cessna 182A, N6324B, experienced a loss of engine power while landing at the Casa Grande Municipal Airport (CGZ), Casa Grande, Arizona. The pilot subsequently made an off airport forced landing in a field. The airplane encountered rough terrain during the landing roll, which resulted in a nose-over.
On September 1, 2013, about 1100 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 182 airplane, N6460A, was substantially damaged when the pilot ditched into a lake following a loss of engine power on approach to the Boulder Municipal Airport (BDU), Boulder, Colorado. The pilot sustained minor injuries.