Executive/Corporate/Business

The airplane, a Rockwell Grand Commander 690C Jetprop 840, was "cleared for the approach" and approximately eight minutes later was observed emerging from the clouds, flying from west to east. Witnesses reported that the nose of the airplane dropped and the airplane subsequently impacted terrain in a near vertical attitude. Impact forces and a post impact fire destroyed the airplane. Examination of the airplane's systems revealed no anomalies. Weather at the time of the accident was depicted as overcast with three to six miles visibility. An icing probability chart depicted the probability for icing during the airplane's descent as 76 percent. AIRMETS for moderate icing and instrument meteorological conditions had been issued for the airplane’s route of flight. Another airplane in the vicinity reported light to moderate mixed icing. It could not be confirmed what information the pilot had obtained in a weather briefing, as a briefing was not obtained through a recorded source. A weight and balance calculation revealed that the accident airplane was 1,000 pounds over gross weight at the time of departure and 560 pounds over gross weight at the time of the accident. It was estimated that the center of gravity was at or just forward of design limitations.

The pilot departed Shoreham on a flight to Hungary with an intermediate stop in Bad Vöslau near Vienna, to pick up a passenger before continuing to Hungary. On approach to Bad Vöslau Airport, the pilot encountered poor visibility due to fog when the aircraft impacted trees and crashed in a wooded area near the airfield. The pilot, sole onboard, was killed.

The twin engine aircraft, owned by the Red Canyon Aesthetics & Medical Spa, a dermatology clinic headquartered in Cedar City, was returning to its base when shortly after take off, the pilot elected to make an emergency landing due to technical problem. The aircraft hit the ground, skidded for 300 meters and came to rest in flames in the desert, near the Arches National Park. All 10 occupants, among them some cancer specialist who had traveled to Moab early that day to provide cancer screening, cancer treatment, and other medical services to citizens in Moab, were killed.

The privately operated Piper PA-46-350P Jetprop DLX (registration C-FKKH, serial number 4622092) had departed from Edmonton, Alberta, at about 0733 mountain daylight time en route to Winnipeg, Manitoba, on an instrument flight rules flight plan. Shortly after the aircraft levelled off at its cleared altitude of flight level (FL) 270, the aircraft was observed on radar climbing through FL 274. When contacted by the controller, the pilot reported autopilot and gyro/horizon problems and difficulty maintaining altitude. Subsequently, he transmitted that his gyro/horizon had toppled and could no longer be relied upon for controlling the aircraft. The aircraft was observed on radar to make several heading and altitude changes, before commencing a right turn and a steep descent, after which the radar target was lost. An emergency locator transmitter signal was received by the Lloydminster, Alberta, Flight Service Station for about 1 ½ minutes before it stopped. The wreckage was found by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police about 16 nautical miles northeast of Wainwright at about 1205. None of the five people on board survived.

The aircraft, after necessary met and ATC briefing took off at 0940 UTC from Jodhpur on direct route W58 at cruise FL 100 and sector EET 20 minutes as per Flight Plan. No abnormality was reported / recorded by the pilot during take off from Jodhpur. The crewmember of the aircraft while operating Jodhpur–Udaipur were the same who operated flight Delhi-Jodhpur on 18.3.2008. There were five passengers also on board the aircraft. The aircraft climbed to the assigned level where the pilot was experiencing continuous turbulence at FL100. The pilot communicated the same to the ATC Jodhpur and requested for higher level which was not granted and advised to continue at same level and contact ATC Udaipur for level change. It came in contact with Udaipur at 0944 UTC, approx 50 NM from Udaipur. At 0948 the weather passed by ATC was winds 180/07 kts. Vis 6 km. Temp 34, QNH 1006 Hpa and advised for ILS approach on runway 26. Consequently the pilot requested to make right base Rwy 26 visual approach, which was approved by the ATC. Aircraft did not report any defect/snag. Pilot further stated that during approach to land at Udaipur when flap 10 degree was selected, the flap didn’t respond and ‘Flaps-Fail’ message flashed. Thereafter he carried out the check list for flapless landing. At 1004 UTC when the aircraft reported on final the ATC cleared the aircraft to land on runway 26 with prevailing wind 230/10 Kts. The same was acknowledged by the crew and initiated landing. At about 20 to 30 feet above ground the pilot stated to have experienced sudden down-draft thereby the aircraft touched down heavily on the runway. The touch-down was on the centerline, at just before the touchdown Zone (TDZ), on the paved runway, after the threshold point. Consequent to the heavy impact both the main wheel tyre got burst; first to burst was right tyre. The aircraft rolled on the runway centerline for a length of about 1,000 feet in the same condition. Thereafter it gradually veered to the right of the runway 26 at distance of approx 2,200 feet runway length from the threshold of the runway. The aircraft left the runway shoulder and after rolling almost straight for another 90 ft it stopped after impact with the airport boundary wall.

On March 4, 2008, about 1515 central standard time, a Cessna 500, N113SH, registered to Southwest Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Clinic PC of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, entered a steep descent and crashed about 2 minutes after takeoff from Wiley Post Airport (PWA) in Oklahoma City. None of the entities associated with the flight claimed to be its operator. The pilot, the second pilot, and the three passengers were killed, and the airplane was destroyed by impact forces and post crash fire. The flight was operated under 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 with an instrument flight rules flight plan filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight originated from the ramp of Interstate Helicopters (a 14 CFR Part 135 on demand helicopter operator at PWA) and was en route to Mankato Regional Airport, Mankato, Minnesota, carrying company executives who worked for United Engines and United Holdings, LLC.

The captain initially flew the GPS (global positioning system) runway 2 approach down to minimums and executed a missed approach. The approach chart listed the minimum visibility for the straight-in approach as 1 mile, the minimum descent altitude (MDA) as 6,860 feet mean sea level (329 feet above ground level), and the missed approach point as the runway threshold. The audio information extracted from the CVR indicated the flight crew listened to the automated weather station at the airport twice during the second approach; both times the report stated, in part, "visibility one half [mile] light snow sky conditions ceiling two hundred broken one thousand overcast." At 0744:09, the first officer said, "there's MDA," and at 0744:27, "there's the runway right below ya." The CVR recorded the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) audio alert "sink rate, sink rate, sink rate, sink rate" at 0744:37, the sound of touchdown at 0744:52, and the sound of impact at 0745:00. According to both pilots, the airplane touched down even with the midfield windsock. The captain applied brakes and full reverse on both propellers; however, the airplane did not slow down and continued off the end of the runway, impacted and knocked down a chain link fence, and continued into downsloping rough terrain. The landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid to a stop. The operator reported that there was 2 to 3 inches of slush on the runway. The runway was equipped with pilot activated medium intensity runway lights, runway end identifier lights, and a visual approach slope indicator. The first officer said that on both approaches, he attempted to turn on the lights, but the lights did not activate. The Federal Aviation Regulation that specifies the instrument flight rules for takeoff and landing states, in part, that no pilot may operate an aircraft below the authorized MDA unless (1) the aircraft is continuously in a position from which a descent to a landing on the intended runway can be made at a normal rate of descent using normal maneuvers, and (2) the flight visibility is not less than the visibility prescribed in the standard instrument approach being used. The regulation further states that if these conditions are not met when the aircraft is being operated below the MDA or upon arrival at the missed approach point, the pilot shall immediately execute an appropriate missed approach procedure. In this case, the minimum required visibility was 1 mile versus the 1/2- mile visibility reported by the automated weather station. Additionally, the activation of the GPWS "sink rate" audio alert indicates a normal rate of descent was exceeded during the landing. Both of these conditions should have prompted the flight crew to execute a missed approach, which would have prevented the accident.

The twin engine aircraft departed Luanda-4 de Fevereiro Airport shortly prior to 0700LT on an exec flight to Huambo, carrying 11 passengers and two pilots, among them two Portuguese citizens and the CEO of the operator. While descending to Huambo Airport in poor weather conditions (limited visibility due to rain and fog), the aircraft collided with Mt Mbave (2,021 metres high) located about 40 km north of Huambo Airport. All 13 occupants were killed.

The pilot removed the airplane from a hangar that was kept heated to about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and parked it on the ramp while awaiting the arrival of the passengers. The outside temperature was below freezing, and a steady light to moderate snow was falling. The airplane sat in the aforementioned ambient conditions for at least 45 minutes before the initiation of the takeoff roll. Prior to attempting the takeoff, the pilot did not remove the accumulated snow or the snow that had melted on the warm airframe and then refroze as ice. The surviving passengers said that the takeoff ground run was longer than normal and the airplane lifted off at 100 knots indicated and momentarily touched back down, and then lifted off again. Almost immediately after it lifted off the second time, the airplane rolled into a steep right bank severe enough that the surviving passengers thought that the wing tip might contact the ground. As the pilot continued the takeoff initial climb, the airplane repeatedly rolled rapidly to a steep left and right bank angle several times and did not seem to be climbing. The airplane was also shuddering, and to the passengers it felt like it may have stalled or dropped. The pilot then lowered the nose and appeared to attain level flight. The pilot made a left turn of about 180 degrees to a downwind for the takeoff runway. During this turn the airplane reportedly again rolled to a steeper than normal bank angle, but the pilot successfully recovered. When the pilot initiated a left turn toward the end of the runway, the airplane again began to shake, shudder, and yaw, and started to rapidly lose altitude. Although the pilot appeared to push the throttles full forward soon after initiating the turn, the airplane began to sink at an excessive rate, and continued to do so until it struck a hangar approximately 1,300 feet southwest of the approach end of runway 35. No pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures were identified in examinations of the wreckage and engines.

On approach to Bratislava-Ivanka-Milan Ratislav Štefánik Airport, the twin engine aircraft crashed in an open field located few kilometres from the airport, bursting into flames. All three occupants were killed. Weather conditions were marginal at the time of the accident.