Piper PA-31-310 Navajo

The pilot was completing a positioning flight from Mora to Gävle. En route, while flying in marginal weather conditions over the Borlänge area, the pilot misinterpreted instruments settings and started a descent to the Borlänge-Dala Airport while he was supposed to land at Gävle-Sandviken Airport located about 85 km east of its actual position. Due to poor visibility, he was unable to locate the airport. Following two missed approaches, the twin engine airplane struck a hill and crashed about 4 km south of Borlänge. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Both occupants, German citizens, were completing a flight from Vilshofen, Germany, to Milan-Malpensa. While cruising in limited visibility due to foggy conditions, the twin engine aircraft hit trees and crashed in a wooded area located in the Campo dei Fiori Regional Park, near Varese. Both occupants were killed.
Photos: Isaia Laudi.

The pilot and a prospective buyer/passenger were on a local demonstration flight. Prior to this flight, the aircraft had been parked for nearly one year. Since the last annual inspection on 12 January 1982, it had been flown only 66 hours. During the preflight, the pilot found the fuel tanks between 1/4 full and empty. The sumps were drained, the main tanks were filled, then the sumps were drained again. After takeoff, the pilot leveled the aircraft at 1,500 feet in a cruise configuration. Shortly thereafter, the left engine began running rough, backfiring and losing power. The pilot turned back toward the airport, but the engine lost all power and the propeller was feathered. While returning, the right engine's cylinder head and oil temperature began rising above the red line. Subsequently, it began losing power and a wheels-up, forced landing was made in an open field. An examination revealed that both engines were out of time, firing was intermittent and distributor block on the left engine was burned due to incorrect timing. Also, the left turbocharger gate was stuck open and the left fuel filter was partially clogged. Both occupants escaped uninjured.

While approaching North Bay Airport, the twin engine airplane crashed in unknown circumstances six km from the airfield. There were no casualties.

The pilot filed an IFR clearance and took off on runway 30 after dark. At that time, the airport manager was in his living quarters, getting ready to eat his evening meal. He reported that from his position, the takeoff height looked normal. As the aircraft departed, he noticed no unusual sounds, except he heard what he thought was shots from a rifle. Another witness heard what he described as a loud pop and the sound of engine sputter followed by a crash sound. Later, the aircraft wreckage was found about 1,5 mile northwest of the airport. The investigation revealed that it had collided with trees and the wreckage was scattered over an area about 1,000 feet long. No preimpact malfunction or failure of the engines was found. The propeller blades were found twisted and bent. The flight controls were all accounted for and examined and no preimpact failures were found. No bullet impact marks were found on any piece of the wreckage. All eight occupants were killed.

A PA-31, N100FD, was being vectored by DFW approach control (approach control) for a landing on runway 13L at Dallas-Love Field. The pilot's last received and acknowledged instructions were to descend and maintain 2,000 feet and turn left to 190°. Simultaneously, a Cessna 337, N72430, departed runway 15 at Addison Airport, under tower control, and was to make a right climbing turn of approx 180°. Two min after takeoff, the pilot asked and got approval for freq change. 24 seconds later, he contacted approach control stating he had just departed Addison and was climbing to 2,500 feet on a 300° heading. The controller misunderstood the pilot's departure point and instructed him to change to frequency 120.5. The two aircraft immediately collided. A 2,000 feet ceiling was reported, two witnesses stated they could see more blue sky than clouds. A witness approximately 8 miles away saw a fireball in the clouds. Investigation revealed the controller, vectoring N100FD, prematurely cleared the aircraft to an altitude which was below the ceiling of the Addison Airport traffic area and prior to reaching the airspace delegated for that purpose by an ATC letter of agreement.

The flight departed Anguilla at 0803 ast. At 0805 the pilot radioed St. Maarten and filed a VFR flight plan to St. Thomas. The flight plan showed a direct route of flight at 4,500 feet msl with a time enroute of 45 minutes. The flight failed to arrive at the destination. Search efforts were suspended on October 23 with negative results. Pilots flying in the area on the accident date reported that at 0920 there was a line of thunderstorms extending northwest from St. Maarten to the Antigua area. The line of thunderstorms had a base as low as 1,000 feet with continuous heavy rain below. The aircraft damage and injuries are presumed.

The twin engine airplane was engaged in a cargo flight from Helsinki to Joensuu with intermediate stops in Mikkeli, Varkaus and Savonlinna, carrying a load of 578 kilos of newspapers. It departed Savonlinna Airport at 1213LT on the last leg to Joensuu with an ETA at 1235LT. After he received the last weather info for Joensuu Airport, the pilot initiated the descent under VFR mode. On approach to runway 10, smoke came out from the airplane that apparently caught fire. It entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed 2 km short of runway, bursting into flames. The pilot, sole on board, was killed. His body was recovered from the Pohjalampi Lake, few hundred meters from the main wreckage. Investigations revealed that he fell down from the airplane on final approach.

The twin engine airplane was completing a flight from south of France to Liverpool when it crashed in unknown circumstances in Creil, about 45 km north of Paris. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Atibaia, state of São Paulo, on a flight to Trinidad and Tobago with three people on board. En route, it crashed in unknown circumstances in the region of the Guiana Shield, southeast Venezuela. The wreckage and all three on board were not found.