Having just made a parachutist’s drop, during a sky diving operation, the private pilot spiraled down from altitude to land, but had to extend his pattern to allow a departing acft to leave. During a long final approach, the engine failed and an emergency landing was attempted in a soft plowed farm field. The acft, on landing, dug in it’s nose wheel and turned over. No mechanical or fuel irregularities were discovered during the post accident investigation and meteorological conditions were favorable for carburetor icing according to the ‘icing probablility charts’.
Category: Non-Fatal Single-Engine
The pilot and three passengers were on a night flight in an aircraft that was equipped to carry skydivers. During the approach to land, the landing light failed. While attempting to get the light to operate, the pilot allowed an undershoot to develop. Subsequently, the aircraft landed short of the runway and the nose gear failed when the nose- wheel struck the runway lip. The aircraft then slid approximately 300 feet and nosed over. Mirl & threshold lights were installed, but there were no vasi lights.
The airplane landed uneventfully after a skydiver struck the horizontal stabilizer following an inadvertent deployment of his main parachute as he was preparing to exit the airplane. The skydiver was not injured and descended normally.
During a local parachute jump flight, the airplane was unable to gain enough altitude to clear rising terrain. The airplane collided with a tree and eventually the terrain. There were no reported mechanical failures or malfunctions. The acft handbook lists 2307 lbs as max gto wt. The acc acft weighed 2280 lbs. The cg was in the rear third of the envelope at aprx 103.35. The da was aprx 6200 ft.
While attempting to takeoff from a 1,865′ turf runway on an 85 degree day with four sky divers/passengers on board, the pilot was unable to attain sufficient airspeed for lift-off and elected to abort the takeoff. The pilot estimated that he had used about 60 – 70% of the runway before initiating the remedial action, and could not stop the aircraft before the end of the runway. It ran off the departure end of the runway, across a road, into a ditch, and then nosed over.
The plt dropped off parachutists at 8,500 ft and began to descend back to arpt. The a/c was descending at 145 mph, 19 inches mp, and 2300 rpm in a long circular pattern. The flt was on final between 500 and 1000 ft msl when the plt tried to apply pwr. The eng failed to respond. After switching the fuel selector and attempting to restart the eng twice, the plt decided to lnd in a field short of the runway. During landing roll, the nose gear broke off and the a/c nosed over. Later the eng was operated to full pwr with no evidence of failure or malfuction. Calculations indicated enough fuel for operation and fuel was found in carb bowl. According to icing probability curves, the a/c was flying in conditions conducive to carb icing. The plt stated that carb heat was not applied during descent.
The airplane lost power shortly after takeoff, at 100-200 ft agl. A witness reported hearing the engine backfire several times before it lost power completely. The airplane crashed shortly thereafter, as the pilot was attempting to return to the arpt. Exam of the engine revealed that the ignition harnesses and several spark plugs were in poor condition: several ignition leads were deteriorated; 3/4 of all leads were improperly connected to the magnetos. The spark plugs fired intermittently and broke down under pressure, when operationally tested. Other evidence of poor maintenance was also found, including water contamination in the carb bowl and a deteriorated carb accelerator pump. The airplane underwent a 100 hr inspection 4 months/128 flt hrs before the accident.
A commercial plt was flying a group of parachutists for a skydiving club. The aircraft encountered turbulence during a climb to 4,500 feet agl. As the second jumper was exiting, the aircraft dropped and the parachutist struck the horizontal stabilizer. The outer four inches were bent downward and the assembly was pulled one inch from the fuselage. The plt made a normal landing and an inspection revealed some bulkhead damage in the tail section. The parachutist was not injured.
The plt rprtd that the left main gear collapsed as he started to taxi from the ramp area on a smooth grass surface. When the gear collapsed, the left wing dropped to the ground & was substantially dmgd. The plt rprtd the left gear leg had broken off 2 inches ‘inside the bulkhead.’ an exam of the broken part revealed it had failed from fatigue.
The pic had been airborne in the lcl area to let parachute jumpers jump fm his acft. To lose alt quickly the pic performed a prolonged slip. On the final app the eng quit and alt was insufficient to reach the rwy for lndg. The off arpt lndg was unsuccessful. The pic stated that the poss cause of the acc was improper fuel flow resulting fm the slip and the abbormal attitude associated with it. It was also imcumbant upon the pic for a safe lndg to have selected the proper fuel posn by referring to the owner’s manual. The owner’s manual cautions abt proper fuel selector positioning. Fuel selector on ‘both’ is required for all but straight and level flt. The fuel selector was found posnd to ‘off’ during insp of the acft and 10 gal of fuel was found in the rt tank. No fuel was found in the left tank.
The plt was returning to the airport after transporting skydivers to altitude and while on final aprch he allowed the acft to stall & crash short of the rwy.
The plt stated the purpose of the flt was to drop parachute jumpers. The jumpers deplaned at 8500 ft msl and the plt reduced pwr for a descent and landing at the arpt of departure. He stated he did not apply carb heat during the entire descent and he entered the traffic pattern with reduced pwr.During final apch, he applied throttle but the eng would not respond, it would only run rough. The plt stated the acft was descending rapidly and it was obvious he would not be able to land on the arpt. He landed the acft in a plowed, muddy fld where it nosed over.
Shortly after the acft took off with 4 skydivers on board, its eng seized at an alt of about 300 to 400 ft. The plt selected the best available area to land which was a field of tall corn on rolling terrain. During the emerg landing, the acft nosed over. Later, the eng was disassembled & aprx 1 qt of finely ground ferreous material was found deposited in the lower oil pan. The main bearings were found scored & discolored, & the main bearing shells showed evidence of overheating. The connecting rods were also discolored from heat. The screen chamber of the oil pump was found full of ferrous metal which shut off the oil supply to the oil pump gears. The faa maint inspector who examined the eng stated that the ferrous material found in the eng & bottom pan was not from the eng. The source of the material was not determined.
The plt transported a load of skydivers to alt & was returning to the airstrip. During arrival, he decided to practice a simulated eng out landing. While on an apch with full flaps, the plt elected to slip the acft. As he was transitioning from a side slip to a normal landing attitude, the acft suddenly dropped, landed hard & bounced. The plt reported that on the 2nd touchdown, the nosewheel hub failed, the prop struck the rwy & the nose gear was bent.
The preflight, engine runup and initial takeoff were uneventful. At approx 600 ft agl the engine sputtered for two or three seconds then stopped. The pilot turned back toward the runway but was too low. He crash landed in a gravel quarry after clipping power lines. No engine abnormalities were noted during a subsequent engine teardown. The reason for the engine failure could not be determined. The operator believed that either the mixture control had backedoff during the climb ot that the parachutist in the front rt seat had inadvertently pulled the mixture off with a piece of her equipment during the climb, causing the power loss.
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.
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 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.