Accidents

Really Lame Accidents

Someone we know had his very own entry in the faa database:
A. Type: Incident Mid Air:N Missing:N Entry date: 01/18/2000 From: EASTERN REGION OPERATIONS CENTER/ DCA AIRPORT POLICE
B. Reg.No.: 6309V M/M: C172 Desc: SKYHAWK 172/MESCALERO/CUTLASS
Activity: Unknown Phase: Landing GA-A/C: General Aviation

Descr: AIRCRAFT LANDED, PILOT WAS INSTRUCTED BY GROUND CONTROL TO TAXI TO SIGNATURE FBO; A SKY CHEF CATERING TRUCK FAILED TO YIELD AT A MARKED TAXIWAY CROSSING AND HIT THE AIRCRAFT'S PROPELLER, WASHINGTON, DC

WX: DCA 172051Z 31014G18KT 10SM FEW250 M03/M24 A3045 Damage: Minor (editor's note. The pilot does NOT think it is minor. Prop stoppage. Engine needs to be torn down. Not much fun at all)

Contributed by Steve Sill Photos of a damaged 707 sitting in the water short of the runway at Mwanza, a small port city on Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania. Apparently, after two unsuccessful approaches at night, the pilot of the Arabian-registered cargo plane came in low and was duly warned by the tower. The captain replied that he knew what he was doing -- and then proceeded to hit the water a couple of miles short of the runway. The impact tore off all four engines and the landing gear, but the fuselage was unpunctured and the crew -- with no injuries -- was picked up by a fishing boat, and the remains of the plane were towed closer to shore. Ironically, the plane was supposed to pick up a load of fish: "Maybe the pilot misunderstood where," our reader speculated.
On June 29, 1993, at approximately 1025 Alaska daylight time, a passenger deplaned from a parked commuter airplane at Gambell, Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska, and was seriously injured when she intentionally walked into the arc of the left idling engine propeller of a standing Bering Air PA-31-350 airplane, N4112D, operating as Flight 4660. At the time of the accident, Flight 4660 was operating under the scheduled commuter flight rules of 14 CFR Part 135, under defense flight rules (DVFR) and instrument flight rules (IFR). Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The airline transport rated pilot in command and his six passengers on board were not injured and the airplane did not sustain any damage.

The injured passenger told an Alaska State Trooper following her medical evacuation to Nome, that she had been aware of her act of walking into the airplane's propeller. (See Alaska State Trooper report attached and transcript.)

A witness to the accident stated that the injured passenger said as she received first aid, "God told me to do this, I will not die!" and "Stop, I'm alright! Just keep on praying with [sic] God told me to do this I will not die!" (see statement of Zinnie Naomi Nowpakohok of Gambell, Alaska.) A blood alcohol and drug screen report for the injured passenger was negative.

In an interview with the Bering Air pilot in command, the NTSB was told that after starting engines, the pilot was completing cockpit duties prior to taxi and was surprised by the sight of the woman approaching the idling left engine from along the leading edge of the left wing. The pilot shouted a warning and closed the mixture controls for both engines, however the woman turned and presented her buttocks to the propeller arc. The propeller struck the woman's posterior and legs several times before throwing her to the ground, witnesses reported. Other witnesses reported the woman "flying" from the contact.

THE AIRCRAFT DEPARTED NEW BADEN AND BEGAN FLYING ERRATICALLY DOWN AN INTERSTATE HIGHWAY. IT CAUSED ONE AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT BY FLYING LOW HEAD-ON PASSES AT CARS. IT FLEW UNDERAN OVERPASS, DAMAGING A WINGTIP IN THE PROCESS. IT FLEW INTO AN ELECTRICAL CABLE AND DAMAGED THE VERTICAL STABILIZED IN THE PROCESS. THE PILOT BUZZED A TRUCK. MADE TWO SHARP TURNS AT LOW ALTITUDE. DURING THE SECOND TURN THE LEFT WING STRUCK THE GROUND AND THE AIRCRAFT SLID TO A STOP 190 FEET LATER. THE PILOT WAS EJECTED FROM THE COCKPIT AND LATERDIED. HIS SEAT BELT WAS NOT FASTENED DURING THE CRASH. AFTER THE CRASH HIS FAMILY DESCRIBED HIM AS A PARANOID PSYCHOTIC AND HIS FRIENDS STATED THAT HE WAS DEPRESSED. IN A FINAL INTE RVIEW BEFORE HE DIED HE REPEATEDLY MENTIONED ANIMOSITY TOWARD GRAVEL TRUCKS.

More Right Rudder

Montgomery Airpark. June 28, 1999. Three people, full fuel, 93 degrees. Aircraft lands in tree. All passengers walk away. This could have been MUCH worse. Click on the photos to see them larger. NTSB Preliminary

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FAA preliminary Accident and Incident Data

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mon aeroglisseur est plein d'anguilles