United States of America

The aircraft struck a 2-feet high Avgas pump while the pilot was taxiing around another aircraft that was parked. The nose gear collapsed and a small fire resulted. The pilot and passenger evacuated the aircraft. Line personnel were unable to extinguish the fire with hand-held extinguishers. The aircraft was subsequently engulfed by the fire and was destroyed. A large dry chemical fire extinguisher was located next to the pump at the time, but line personnel were unable to get to it due to the fire. The black top around the pump had recently been resurfaced and no safety markings, lights or barricades were in place around the pump (except for the large fire extinguisher). The pump was originally located next to the ramp edge, but subsequent expansion of the ramp left the pump surrounded by pavement.

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 pilot obtained a weather briefing for his proposed flight from Birmingham, AL to Jasper, AL to Allentown, PA. He did not file a flight plan for the 35 mile flight from Birmingham to Jasper, however, he did file a flight plan for the proposed flight from Jasper to Allentown. He stated that he 'felt like he got a little slow and the tail stalled' during his VFR landing approach at Jasper. The aircraft contacted the ground at the east end of the east-west runway on a northerly track. The aircraft continued on the northerly track for 288 feet before colliding with trees. The aircraft was destroyed by the post crash fire. Witnesses reported fog in the area and the pilot reported that he had encountered patches of fog on the flight from Birmingham.

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.

The pilot reported to ground personnel at Fort Lauderdale that he was experiencing an avionics problem and the passenger entry door was sprung the day before when it was slammed; however, the pilot elected to depart. The aircraft wreckage was located on June 19 in the Everglades near Coral Springs, Florida. The aircraft impacted in a nose low attitude. Wreckage was scattered over an area 211 feet long by 55 feet wide. Investigation revealed no preimpact mechanical malfunctions/failures. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The mechanic in charge of taxiing the Boeing 727 allowed an unauthorized avionics technician to occupy the pilot seat. They inadvertently deactivated the brake pressurization system and struck a passenger jetway at the terminal gate. An ensuing fire destroyed the airplane and a company ground vehicle and extensively damaged the jetway. The terminal gate was also damaged. A total of 11 persons were injured.

Shortly after takeoff a loss of power occurred and the aircraft struck trees in flight. Less than 1/2 fuel was available in all three fuel tanks. The fuel selector valve was tested and found that the selections plate was indexed off center for all selections due to wear. In the takeoff attitude unporting occurred allowing air to be drawn into the system. The pilot escaped with minor injuries.

Aircraft was destroyed during an attempted off airport emergency landing following a dual engine failure while leveling off at cruise flight. Pilot stated that left engine, then right engine surged and quit as he was leveling off at 9,000 feet msl. At the time of the engine failures the fuel totalizer was reading 60 gallons, but the aircraft fuel gauges were reading empty. Pilot broke out of overcast at 3,500 msl (about 1,200 feet agl) and was unable to find a suitable clear area to land before committing to an emergency landing in trees. Gear was down, flaps were up and neither engine was feathered at impact. Pilot stated that he knew he was out of gas when both engines quit and that he did not attempt an air start. Both occupants were seriously injured.

On 5/27/87 at about 0915 edt, the pilot departed Palm Beach-Intl Airport (PBI) on a flight to Marsh Harbour, Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. When the aircraft did not arrive at the destination, a search was initiated. The aircraft was not found and was presumed to have been destroyed. The pilot was presumed to have been fatally injured. Radar data revealed that the aircraft had departed toward Marsh Harbour, but the last contact with the flight was approximately 12 miles east of PBI. An aircraft was seen flying eastbound over the destination airport at about the time of the estimated arrival time. Also, another pilot thought she heard a radio transmission from the missing aircraft when the pilot reported in the vicinity of Grand Bahama Island.

Taxi clearance was received at 16:35 and the flight left gate 14B for runway 19. The airplane was cleared for takeoff at 16:44. Shortly after lifting off, at 200 feet above the ground, the engine torque gauges began to fluctuate erratically and the plane began to yaw back and forth. The captain believed the TTL (Torque Temperature Limiting) system may have been bypassing fuel to the engines (a situation that could occur when power levers are advanced too far forward). He then slightly decreased the power settings which resulted in even greater torque oscillations and greater yawing. The captain believed both engines were malfunctioning for some unknown reason and landed back on runway 19, because a 90° turn for runway 28 seemed impossible. The aircraft overran the runway, struck a 6 feet high chain link fence, struck a concrete barrier and skidded across the Route 61 highway before coming to rest on a parking lot.