United States of America

Parked at Pope AFB, the Starlifter was ready to embark its passengers. About 500 paratroopers were around the aircraft. On final approach to runway 23, at an altitude of 300 feet, an USAF Lockheed C-130E Hercules registered 68-10492 collided with a USAF F-16 Fighting Falcon (88-0171) that was approaching the same runway to land. The crew of the C-130 was able to land safely while both pilots on board the F-16 ejected before the fighter crashed on the parked C-141. Several explosion occurred and 23 soldiers who were already on board were killed while 80 others were injured, some seriously. The aircraft was destroyed by fire.

The pilots flew to Lawrence, MA to refuel for the return flight back to the west coast. They stated the fuel truck malfunctioned and stopped after it had pumped about 221 gallons into the airplane. They were warned about possible fuel contamination, but they reported sump samples did not reveal abnormal amounts of water. The pilots observed erroneous fuel totalizer indications during the low alt flight to Burlington, VT, where they topped off with fuel. The flight crew stated while in cruise flight at FL410, the left engine low fuel pressure light illuminated. Sometime later, the left engine lost power, followed by a loss of power in the right engine. Numerous restart attempts on both engines and the apu were unsuccessful. The pilots maneuvered towards the nearest airport, but were unable to visually identify the runway in time to land on it. The airplane touched down in a field, striking an irrigation structure and trees. Water-contaminated fuel was found in the fuel tanks, fuel filters, and throughout the fuel system.

Just prior to the accident the airplane was seen on final approach flying in an erratic manner at a low altitude. Two witnesses riding in a car wrote they saw the airplane, 'going up and down toward the ground. We could hear a faint clicking noise, and the propellers were going around slowly.' The witnesses saw the airplane take 'a short nosedive and crashed.' They wrote that the airplane was not traveling 'very fast and it was pretty level to the ground.' The witnesses could not hear the engines because they were in a car. According to fuel records, the pilot of N1576T put 112 gallons of fuel on board the airplane on march 17, 1994, and the flight started at 1030 on march 19, 1994. The accident occurred at 1355, for a total flight time of 3 hours and 25 minutes. Using fuel consumption data for this aircraft it was estimated that fuel exhaustion would occur after 3 hours and 4 minutes of flight. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The flightcrew had completed a 14 cfr part 135 charter flight and had landed in the harbor at Key West, Florida. They had moored the seaplane and departed. About an hour later, they reboarded the seaplane to fly it to an airport for refueling, then to return to the harbor to board the passengers. During takeoff, the seaplane was observed to pitch nose up, roll left, and crash nose down in the harbor. Due to the damage done by tidal flow and recovery attempts, the exact condition of the aft bilge drain plugs was unknown. During a check of the CVR recording, the crew was not heard to call out the bilge pumps during the before-takeoff checklist. After lift-off, both pilots made comments about keeping the nose down due to water in the aft portion of the aircraft. Both pilots were killed.

At 0815 edt, N36444 landed with light snow falling and the temperature above freezing. Snow continued falling and the temperature dropped below freezing. At about 1100, the pilot filed an IFR flight plan and had a lineman brush snow from the wings. The lineman noted that patches of ice remained on the left wing, but the pilot declined to deice the plane. (At an airport 3 miles away, another flight was delayed due to ice that had formed below a snow cover on a plane that sat outside from 0945 to 1100.) The surviving passenger said that after takeoff, N36444 lost lift and yawed left. It appeared to recover, then vibrated, yawed, banked left, descended, and impacted the ground. After the accident, the engines were test run with no notable deficiencies. There was evidence the pilot was taking prescription medication. Tests of his blood showed 0.157 ug/ml of diazepam and 0.134 ug/ml of nordiazepam. Tests of his urine showed 0.152 ug/ml of nordiazepam and 0.167 ug/ml of oxazepam. On 3/2/90, the pilot had surgery for a tumor of (or near) the left optic nerve. In his last FAA medical application, he denied that he had medical treatment in the previous 5 years and did not report use of any medications. The aviation medical examiner had prescribed reserpine (for hypertension) and was aware of the surgery, but this was not reported in the pilot's faa medical record.

Shortly after takeoff, the copilot reported that the flight was returning with the right engine shut down. Seconds later, the tower controller saw a fire. The airplane collided with level terrain, 3,450 feet from the end of runway 21 in a 75° to 80° nose down attitude. The right engine propeller was found in the feathered position. The left engine indicated evidence that it was producing power at the time of impact. A fatigue crack was found that separated the head from the barrel on the number eight cylinder of the right engine. No other evidence was found to indicate a mechanical failure or malfunction. Both pilots were killed.

While on approach at night, in VMC, the left engine lost power due to fuel starvation. The propeller was not feathered, the l/g was left down, and the aircraft drifted left of crs, struck trees, and then the ground. One gallon of fuel was drained from the right wing, engine and fuel line. No fuel was found in the left wing, engine and fuel line. The copilot said the fuel quantity system was erratic with the left side more erratic, and the right side reading about 10 gallons more than the left side. Testing found the right side indicated about 45 gallons more than was present while the left side was inoperative. There was no requirement for periodic recalibration of the fuel quantity system. The owner/pilot had operated the aircraft on 32 flights, over 23 hours, and refueled 23 times using partial fills, since he had full tanks. The pilot was checked out 17 months prior and the instructor said the pilot was fine, however, he was cautioned him to enroll in recurrent training. There was no record he did. The pilot had received an FAA checkride 19 months prior to the accident, which he passed.

The pilot elected not to use the stored instrument flight plan, and he departed with a special VFR clearance. The flight was being followed by radar. After reaching visual flight conditions, the pilot proceeded toward his intended destination and climbed to 8,500 feet. Minimum safe altitude warning service was available, but not requested by the pilot. A review of radar data indicates that the airplane's track remained almost constant at 300° with a 160-knot ground speed. The last radar hit on the airplane occurred about 0.3 miles from where the airplane cruised into 8,500 foot msl terrain while still tracking along a northwesterly course. The accident occurred in dark, night time conditions.

Air traffic control had cleared the airplane for the ILS approach to runway 24, circle to land on runway 06. The airplane broke off the approach to runway 24, and was observed by a witness at a low altitude, on a left downwind for runway 06, flying in and out of clouds. On the base leg, the airplane turned to the left, and a witness saw the left wing make contact with the ground. One witness said that before the crash, the engine sounded 'like they were at full rpm. Several pilots from the air national guard (ang) at the airport went to the crash site minutes after the crash, and observed ice on the airplane's wings and empennage. One of the ang pilot reported his observation of the ice on the aircraft: 'It appeared to be approximately 1/8 inch in thickness throughout the left and right wing surfaces and the rear empennage sections . . .' Another ang pilot described the weather at the time of the accident as, visibility less then one mile with 'freezing rain and sleet.' The examination of the airplane did not disclose evidence of mechanical malfunction. Both occupants were killed.

The public use flight was being operated by the Indian Health Service of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. It departed VFR from Devils Lake, North Dakota, with an intended destination of Rolla, North Dakota. The pilot attempted two visual approaches at Rolla, but encountered whiteout conditions due to a snow storm. He obtained an IFR clearance and diverted to Minot. He flew two ILS approaches to runway 31 at Minot and reported a missed approach after each. Radio contact was lost after the second approach. About an hour later, a snow plow operator found wreckage on the airport. Investigation revealed the plane had impacted to the right of runway 31 with the gear retracted and the flaps extended 15°. The 0959 weather was in part: 600 feet obscured, visibility 1/2 mile variable in snow, wind 110° at 11 knots. No preimpact mechanical anomaly was found with the airplane or engines. All four occupants were killed.