Rockwell Grand Commander 690

The pilot and his wife departed Wichita, Kansas with a destination of Phoenix, Arizona. Eight minutes after takeoff, while in a climb to 15,000 feet, the passenger contacted departure control and communicated that she thought that her husband might be dead. While departure control was getting a pilot to assist in the situation, the passenger, who was not a pilot attempted to fly the aircraft. A witness reported a rapid series of climbs and descents just before both horizontal stabilizers and the rudder separated from the aircraft. The aircraft then entered a spin terminating with ground impact. The aircraft was consumed by a post-crash fire. Both occupants were killed.

Following an uneventful flight from the continent, the crew established initial contact with local ATC at 2324LT on approach to San Andrés-Sesquicentenario Airport. A minute later, while descending by night and poor weather conditions, the twin engine aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea few km offshore. SAR operations were initiated but eventually suspended a week later as no trace of the aircraft nor the nine occupants was found.

Crashed in unknown circumstances while taking off from La Paz-El Alto Airport. All eight occupants were rescued while the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft (exact type unknown) was completing an illegal flight from Colombia. Apparently, the pilot was trying to land on a ranch property called Las Malvinas when the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances nar Abasolo. All three occupants were killed and a load of 180 kilos of cocaine was found among the debris.

As the flight was approaching the destination, at night, the pilot obtained vectors for a descent over mountainous terrain. During the approach, he cancelled the IFR flight plan and the aircraft descended below radar coverage. Subsequently, the aircraft crashed in mountainous terrain, northwest of the destination airport. Impact occurred in a wooded area at an elevation of about 2,700 feet. The ELT did not activate during the accident. A search was initiated on 12/1/90, but the aircraft and surviving passenger were not found until the next day. The Canadian ATP pilot and other four passengers were fatally injured. After initial impact with trees, the main portion of the fuselage traveled about 1,000 feet before coming to rest. No preimpact mechanical problem was found.

During an IFR flight the pilot executed a forced landing in a reservoir after the engines quit due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot reported that the airplane was fueled, topped off, the night before departure from Charleston. Examination of the airplane showed the outboard fuel filler port cap on the left wing was not present. The majority of the liquid drained from the main fuel sump was water. The inboard and outboard fuel filler caps were present on the right wing. All six occupants were rescued.

The pilot had just returned from vacation in the Bahamas before starting a flight from Little Rock to Atlanta with an intermediate stop at Memphis. This itinerary was followed by a return flight to Little Rock via a reverse routing. Witnesses reported the pilot said he had only 2 hours of sleep before departing Little Rock and that he was really tired. Also, company personnel noted the pilot looked 'extremely tired' and was 'really dragging' prior to the last leg of the flight from Memphis to Little Rock. According to ATC personnel, the flight was routine until the aircraft was arriving at Little Rock. During arrival, the pilot was cleared to descend from 7,000 feet to 2,000 feet at his discretion for a visual approach to runway 22. At 0522 cdt, the pilot reported the airport in sight and was cleared for a visual approach. About 4 minutes later, he again reported the airport in sight and was cleared to land. At 1031, radar contact was lost and the aircraft crashed about 4 miles west of the airport. Initial impact was in an open field while descending in a relatively level attitude. The aircraft became airborne for about 3/4 mile, then crashed out of control in the Arkansas River. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Aircraft was landing on runway 17 at Coronado Airport, 9 NM north of Albuquerque, NM Intl Airport. Pilot said he brought props into reverse and aircraft went off right side of runway. Pilot brought props out of reverse, realigned aircraft on runway, and reversed props again. Aircraft went off right side of runway and collided with runway lights and culverts. Right main and nose landing gears collapsed. Witnesses said approach was too fast with high sink rate that was arrested in landing flare. Pilot said he did not think there had been any mechanical failure or malfunction, but later wrote he thought left prop failed to reverse. Examination of aircraft revealed both prop blade tips curled opposite direction of rotation about 6 inches from tip.

Radar data indicated the aircraft climbed normally to 9,200 feet at which time some maneuver was performed with the aircraft. The aircraft then entered a near vertical dive and the last radar hit was at 6,900 feet. Examination of the aircraft revealed it experienced an inflight structural breakup and there was no evidence to indicate prebreakup failure or malfunction of the aircraft structure, flight controls, engines, engine mounts, autopilot, or systems. The operator reported one employee overheard the pilot and passenger talk about rolling the aircraft prior to departure, and two company employees reported being onboard when the pilot had rolled it on prior occasions. One of these was at night. Both occupants were killed.

The flight conditions for the air ambulance trip consisted of a clear, moonless, dark night and the destination airport was in a mountain valley with the only ground reference lights the town adjacent to the airport. Witnesses saw the aircraft overfly the town and airport at pattern altitude then head out over the lake north of the airport. About 1 mile from the runway, the aircraft was seen to suddenly pitch up, roll inverted and dive straight down into the lake (Bridgeport Reservoir). The aircraft was heading away from the only ground reference lights and was over a reflective body of water near the base turn point when the accident occurred. Witnesses heard increased eng/prop noise before impact. Wreckage revealed evidence of power at impact. The shifts for the pilots in the operation consisted of 4 days on, 2 days off, with alternating day and night shifts. The pilot was on the 4th night of the current shift cycle and was also giving flight instruction during the days. Both occupants, a pilot and a nurse, were killed.