Plane & Pilot

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its final report on the August 7, 2021, crash of a Mooney M20 in Victoria, Minnesota, that killed three. The plane was on an instrument approach when it went out of control and crashed, killing all three aboard, including the 72-year-old pilot and 40-year-old student pilot/passenger along with another passenger in the rear seating area. As is the case with mishaps where the cause is not well known or only suspected, the NTSB’s finding of probable cause reads like a description of the accident. That cause, according to investigators, was: “The pilot’s loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation during final approach, which led to a spiral dive that overstressed the airplane and resulted in an in-flight breakup.” If there were…

A Beechcraft King Air 200 crashed shortly after takeoff from Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, killing all five aboard the plane. No one on the ground was injured. The FAA and NTSB are investigating. Officials say the plane was carrying employees of CTEH, a Little Rock-based environmental practices consulting firm. The plane, which was destroyed in the crash, was owned by CTEH, and the pilot was an employee of the company. The King Air 200 is a pressurized nine-passenger twin powered by two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT-6 engines producing 850 horsepower apiece. It was a development of the straight-tail King Air C90, its major enhancements being a T-tail, more capacity and a higher maximum weight. The accident airplane was built in 1983, making it almost…

In Arizona, two planes collided in midair during a practice formation flight, with one of them, a Ryan Navion, landing safely despite being nearly cut in half. The other plane, a Yak-52, made it back to the runway at Falcon Field, and both occupants survived with minor injuries. Photos of the bare metal Navion have been circulating online, and its ability to make it back to the airport despite the grave damage to it has spurred an online love fest for the plane, which was manufactured starting in 1946 and continued off and on until the early 1960s, with more than 2,500 of the planes being produced over that time frame. It was introduced after World War II by North American Aviation, whose P-51 Mustang is one of the most…

For generations, the name “Reno” has been synonymous with the National Championship Air Races, but this coming year will be the last time they are held at Reno Stead Airport, according to the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA). In its release, RARA explained, “While we knew this day might eventually come, we had hoped it wouldn’t come so soon.” Reno has hosted the races for nearly 60 years. It wasn’t the race organizers’ call, apparently. In its extremely diplomatic release, RARA said it was the airport authority that made the call, and in doing so, it cited, “…the region’s significant growth,” the meaning of which we can only speculate; it’s most likely the concerns of commercial and residential real estate developers. The event did bring in millions of dollars to…

Dave Rathbun, a longtime Cirrus Aircraft engineer who played a critical part in the design of the company’s piston-single-engine SR-series planes and its SF-series single-engine jets, was killed in a plane crash in Duluth, Minnesota. Rathbun, who was flying a privately owned SR22, was the only occupant, and no one on the ground was injured or killed. The FAA is investigating the crash. The SR22, a 2016 model, had taken off from Duluth (KDLH) just a few minutes earlier and was heading to a nearby Superior, Wisconsin, airport, just across the Duluth River. As Rathbun neared the boundary, he was given permission by Duluth tower to change frequencies to the Superior frequency. Rathbun responded in the affirmative. It was the last known communication. In fact, the ATC audio surrounding the…

Piper PA28 Middlebury, Vermont / 1 Fatal The airplane had not been flown recently, and, before the personal flight, the private pilot cleared snow from the airplane’s wings, charged the airplane’s battery, and preheated the engine. He then performed a preflight inspection and drained the fuel tanks. The pilot taxied the airplane to the runway and departed. A witness reported that, during the initial climb, the airplane’s wings “wagged,” then the engine “skipped” and then “went back to normal.” Another witness reported that he heard the engine “sputtering” and saw the airplane make a 180° turn back toward the runway. Both witnesses stated that the airplane then quickly descended. The observations of the witnesses are consistent with the pilot losing control of the airplane while attempting to return to the…