Partenavia P.68

The aircraft departed Bangalore-Hindustan Airport runway 27 at 1514LT on a flight to Cochin with 3 passengers and one pilot on board. Six minutes after takeoff, the pilot reported technical problems and elected to return for an emergency landing. However, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the lakebed of the Gawdanapalya Lake located about 9 km southwest of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all four occupants were killed.

The non-instrument rated pilot departed VFR on a dark night at 0359, with an adequate fuel supply for the intended flight, and proceeded in a south-southeasterly heading (approximately 150 degrees) climbing to a maximum altitude of 4,700 feet msl. The flight continued on the south-southeasterly heading, descended to 4,500 feet msl, then descended gradually to 3,800 feet msl where radar contact was lost at 0411:37. The flight continued 4.6 nautical miles on the south-southeasterly heading, and impacted trees in upslope mountainous terrain while on a magnetic heading of 150 degrees. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire; the accident site was located north of, and approximately 146 feet below an east-west oriented ridge line. The tree elevation was 3,299 feet msl, while the elevation at a ridge south of the site was 3,445 feet msl. Cloud tops in the area were calculated to be about 4,000 feet msl. Examination of the airplane structure, flight controls, engines, propellers, and systems revealed no evidence of preimpact failure or malfunction. The altimeter settings for the departure and destination airports were 30.02 inches Hg and 30.01 inches Hg, respectively. The altimeter was found positioned to 29.91 inches Hg. This error would have resulted in the altimeter reading 100 feet lower than if the correct altimeter setting was entered.

Shortly after takeoff from Rottnest Island Airport, while in initial climb, the twin engine aircraft suffered a bird strike and crashed in a salt lake located near the airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all six occupants were injured.

The airplane descended into terrain during the takeoff initial climb from a private airstrip in dark night conditions. The four passengers had been flown to the departure airport earlier in the day. After several hours at the destination, the pilot and passengers boarded the airplane and waited for two other airplanes to depart. During the initial climb, the pilot banked the airplane to the right, due to the upsloping terrain in the opposite direction (left) and noise abatement concerns; this maneuver was a standard departure procedure. The airplane collided with the gradually upsloping terrain, coming to rest upright. The pilot did not believe that he had experienced a loss of power. The accident occurred in dark night conditions, about 1 hour after sunset. In his written report, the pilot said he only had 10 hours of total night flying experience.

The twin engine aircraft departed Galapagos International Airport (Baltra Island) at 1200LT on a flight to Puerto Villamil Airport, Isabela Island, carrying one passenger and one pilot. At 1219LT, the pilot was cleared to descend to Puerto Villamil Airport when he lost control of the airplane that crashed in the sea. The wreckage was found few hundred metres offshore at 1655LT. Both occupants were killed. The accident occurred three minutes prior to landing.

While flying at 5,500 feet, the aircraft lost altitude and crashed on the slope of a mountain located near Santa Rita de Santa Teresa del Tuy, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.