The plt reported that he preflighted the acft & decided there was sufficient fuel to haul skydivers on 2 more flts. On the 2nd flt, he had to make three passes instead of one. During the apch to the arpt, the eng lost power from fuel exhaustion. The plt tried to reach the rwy, but landed short on plowed terrain. The wheels dug into the plowed terrain, the nose gear collapsed & the acft nosed over. The plt had planned a fuel consumption rate of 12.1 gal/hr. However, the actual fuel consumption (after installation of a new eng) was 12.8 gal/hr.
Category: Non-Fatal
Inadvertent opening of parachute in aircraft during climb to jump altitude pulled jumper from aircraft. Jumper struck right horizontal tail. Control of aircraft was lost and the pilot and the other three jumpers exited the aircraft, deployed their chutes and landed uninjured. The aircraft impacted the ground in a vertical or near vertical dive.
After discharging parachutists at 7500 ft msl the plt closed the throttle and descended to 1200 ft without clearing the engine. No pwr was available when the throttle was advanced upon reaching 1200 ft. A forced landing was made in a bean fld and the acft nosed over after contacting a rut. Environment and power conditions were conductive to carb ice.
The student plt flying n94560 was making her 1st solo touch and go landing when control of the acft was lost. Upon touchdown, n94560 veered left, departed the rwy and collided with n3854d which was being taxied on the grass aprx 20 ft from the rwy.
The acft crashed after a loss of eng power occurred when the plt was returning from transporting sky divers to altitude for a jump. The plt reported he ran the rt fuel tank out of fuel & failed to switch tanks
The plt stated, he had departed the aero county airport, mckinney, tx, on a local flt to drop sky divers. He dropped the sky divers & was returning to the arpt when he encountered a loss of eng power & made a forced landing. He stated that he pulled on carburetor heat and was making his first power change when the eng stopped without warning.
A parachte became entangled in the horizontal stabilizer while the acft was maneuvering to drop the parachutists. The acft made a hard landing after the parachustist disengaged from the acft. The acft stabilizer spar was damaged in the encounter and the lack of elevator effectiveness affected the ability of the plt to properly flare the acft. The nose gear failed during the landing attempt. The cowling, prop and the fuselage was also damaged.
After discharging sky divers, plt was concentrating on max rate of descent, eng pwr at idle, when fuel tank in use ran day. Pwr loss not noted until throttle applied for level off. Switch to usable fuel tank and restart attempt initiated with insufficient remaining altitude for successful result. Forced landing executed on freeway off ramp.
The plt had returned from dropping skydivers & was landing on rwy 29 at sunset. He reported that during the flare to land, he was temporarily blinded by the sun. The acft landed hard & bounced back into the air. It then settled, veered off the rwy, hit piles of manure & nosed over.
The plt stated that during the initial application of power, the left eng backfired due to a possible too sudden application of power. He said that due to ‘inattention’ he let the acft ‘drift to the left side of the runway.’ just after the acft became airborne it ‘immediately started a roll to the left,’ and despite ‘full right aileron and rudder,’the left wing scraped the ground. He rejected the takeoff and the acft groundlooped. The purpose of the flt was to transport parachutists.
The acft lost part of one blade of the propeller during the climb to cruise phase of operation. The passengers were skydivers so they used their parachutes in an exit of the acft as the airframe started to vibrate. The plt made a successful landing on the arpt without power. All the jumpers landed safety. Visual examination of the propeller showed that the blade had separated 10 to 12 inches outboard from the blade root. The fracture exhibited evidence typical of high cycle fatigue and overload stress.
The acft collided with a truck while taking off but managed to stay airborne, fly a mission and return to a normal landing. The private plt was reportedly carrying 8 passengers for a parachute drop. He would not admit he was carrying passengers and none of the passengers would give a written statement. One of the jumpers stated that during takeoff the plt flew the acft to the left side of the rwy where the ground crew truck was parked. The tail wheel of the acft hit theroof of the truck. One of the jumpers said that the private plt was paid to fly them. The pilot’s assessment of the damage was loosened brackets on the tail wheel attachment. No one was reported as injured.
While descending toward the arpt, after 4 parachute jumpers had egressed, the eng loss all power. There was insufficient alt to glide to the arpt, so the plt elected to land in an area with rice paddies. As the acft touched down, it encountered a dike & nosed over, an exam revealed that some fuel was remaining in the fuel tanks. About 1 pint of fuel was drained from the fire wall fuel strainer. No water was found in the fuel sys. Aprx 25 mi south at merced, ca, the temp & dew point were 87 & 50 deg, respective. According to icg probability charts, carb ice would have been possible at glide power; however, icing was not verified.
The purpose of the flt was to transport 3 student parachute jumpers. After the jumpers egressed, the plt & jumpmaster returned to the arpt. During the landing, the acft hit a ridge on the grass rwy & bounced in the air. The acft then touched down in a crab, slid sideways & the left main gear collapsed. According to the plt, the wind was from the northeast at 5 gusting 10 kts.
After returning from a sport parachuting flt, the plt landed on rwy 3 with a 5-kt, right x-wind. He stated that the touchdown was normal, but when the tailwheel came down at aprx 40 kts, the acft started to turn to the left. He corrected with right rudder & brake, then the acft veered to the right. He then tried to correct back to the left, but the acft continued off the right side & came to rest in a ravine. After the accident, the plt reported a right brake malfunction. However, when he submitted an accident report, he indicated there was no mechanical failure or malfunction.
The parachute of one of the jumpers deployed prematurely. The shroud lines entangled in the right horizontal stabilizer & elevator. As the parachute inflated, the stabilizer was bent downward, & the elevator partially ripped from the trailing edge of the stabilizer. The jumper was liberated from the entanglement & safely landed using his reserve chute.The remaining jumpers exited the acft & the plt safely landed the acft.
The plt took off from a small arpt to reposition the acft on a road to pick up sky divers. During the landing, he lost control of the acft & it swerved off the road & hit a tree.
As the student jumper was getting out of the aircraft and onto the step in preparation for a parachute jump the pack tray prematurely opened and the canopy blossomed under the tail pulling the jumper into the horizontal stabilizer causing a cut on his left shin. About 15 inches of the right horizontal stabilizer and elevator were sheared by the jumper. The remainder was crumpled and deformed from mid-span outward. A witness stated that the only way this could happen was if the pilot had the yoke back and the tail low. In other premature openings the witness had been involved with, the parachute opened under the tail and the jumper also went under the tail clearing the aircraft structure in all cases.
While in flt on a parachute jumping mission, a fire erupted in the right eng area & a precautionary landing was made. An exam revealed that the float fulcrum screw, pn 13773, on the stromberg carburetor had backed out & allowed fuel to escape into the exhaust area. Reportedly, the screw had not been safety wired.
Jumper’s parachute open prematurely pulling jumper into tail section bending horizontal stabilizer which in turn jammed the rudder. Plt could not flare acft during subsequent landing collapsing the main gear.
The pilot reported that he had 20 gal of fuel on board when he took off. He climbed to 10,000 ft for a parachute jump, then returned to the airport with an estimated 10 gal of fuel. During a downwind landing, he elected to go around. He said the engine lost power as he was climbing through about 75 ft agl. A forced landing was made in a small pasture. Initially, the mishap was reported as an incident. Before the aircraft was examined, wings had been removed and the aircraft and wings had been transported from the accident site. When examined, both wing tanks were empty, except a small amount of 100 low lead (blue) fuel was found in the right wing tank. Fluid taken from the lines to the left wing tanks had the appearance of automotive fuel. The owner reported that automotive fuel had previously been used. No fuel was found in the carburetor.
Prior to flt the spark plugs on both engs were replaced due to minor eng vibration & the landing gear retract system wiring repaired due to the gear not retracting electrically on a prior occasion. After takeoff the gear would not retract electrically & the passenger had to crank up the gear manually. After the parachute jump the plt shut down the left eng to isolate the vibration. He then started the left eng & feathered the right eng. Unable to unfeather the righteng he elected to land with full flaps & gear down after a straight-in approach. As he approached the threshold a c-150 taxied onto the rwy. The plt executed a go-around while trying to retract the flaps & gear electrically without results.The pax was attempting to retract the gear manually when the acft struck a tree. The plt stated he did not make his landing intentions known on unicom during the approach. No pre-impact descrepancies were found to preclude normal prop operation. Normal elect power is halved with one generation inoperative.
After a normal skydiver drop, the pilot spiraled down for a normal landing on a 2000 ft gravel runway with a powerline at the approach end. The wind was reported as variable at 5 kts. The pilot reported that during the landing, the aircraft touched down on the first 1/3 of the runway and the brakes were applied. Reportedly, the braking action was marginal and the aircraft ran off the end of the runway. The aircraft then struck a ditch and the nose gear failed. Prior to the accident, the pilot was warned that the aircraft brakes were marginal. The density altitude was about 2400 ft.
The pilot had flown from eutaw to seale, al to participate in a parachute activity. Although the plane was equipped for parachuting, it was not used for that purpose on that trip. Before returning to eutaw, the pilot used a dipstick to check the fuel and estimated he had a sufficient amount remaining for the 1.1 hr return flight. He did not check the weather or refuel the aircraft. En route, he encountered clouds, darkness, and heavy rain showers. While deviating from his planned course, he lost track of his position and the fuel supply became low. He diverted to tuscaloosa, al, but ran out of fuel during his approach. The plane struck trees about 1/2 mile from the runway during a forced landing. No seat or seat belt was available for the passenger; however, the passenger received only minor injuries.
After returning from a parachute jumping flight, the pilot elected to land on the 1800 ft grass runway. A 3000 ft asphalt runway was available, but he had been using the grass runway to avoid wear on the tires. There was a 30 ft powerline at the approach end of the grass runway and the sod was wet. The pilot reported that there was light rain and the wind was calm. Reportedly, the plane touched down about 200 ft from the approach end, but the pilot was unable to stop on the runway. The aircraft continued off the end and collided with brush and trees. The computed landing distance over a 50 ft obstacle on a hard runway was about 1500 ft.