United States of America

N2336X was on a business flight to Cody, WY. The pilot executed a missed approach on the first attempt of the VOR-A approach. A pilot who landed at Cody minutes before the accident said the visibility had decreased to 3/4 of a mile when N2336X made the first approach and approx 1/2 mile when N2336X crashed. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of a mechanical malfunction or failure of the aircraft prior to accident. The sas servo arm was found in the full up position. The aircraft struck the terrain in a steep nose low attitude on a heading that was opposite to the direction of flight. Approach minimums at Cody are 5,800 feet and 1 mile visibility. All three occupants were killed.

A mechanic, who was not rated as a pilot, took the aircraft without permission and elected to takeoff at night. A witness saw the aircraft departing at about 0250 pdt. Subsequently, it crashed approximately 3 miles east-northeast of the airport in an open undeveloped area. The time of the accident was not determined, but a clock in the wreckage had stopped at 0355. There was evidence the aircraft had impacted in a nose down, inverted attitude while on a north-northeast heading. The aircraft moved only 28 feet after impact and came to rest inverted with the gear extended and the flaps retracted. No preimpact mechanical problem was found. Toxicology tests showed the pilot had a blood/alcohol level of 3,7‰ and a vitreous/alcohol level of 3,3‰. No record was found to indicate that he had engaged in any previous formal flight training. There was evidence the pilot had been under recent stress. A friend reported the pilot and his wife were 'breaking up.' The pilot's wife reported he had a drinking problem which was the reason for their separation.

The airplane was destabilized by a slight vertical air movement on approach. The pilot touched the airplane down short of the runway proper, collapsing the landing gear before sliding off the strip into adjacent tundra. All five occupants escaped uninjured.

The copilot (dual student) was to get a prof check on the 1st leg of the flight with a simulated single engine power loss on takeoff. According to witnesses, the takeoff was normal until lift off approximately 3,200 feet down the runway; but after lift-off, the aircraft climbed only about 50 feet and didn't seem to accelerate. They reported the nose pitched up and the aircraft went in a steep bank attitude near the departure end of the runway. Subsequently, it descended and crashed in wooded terrain in a right wing down, nose high attitude. A bystander tried to get in the aircraft to rescue the pilots, but the door was jammed and he was unable to break the cabin windows. A fire erupted and engulfed the aircraft. Due to rough terrain, there was a delay in getting fire fighting equipment to the accident site. No preimpact mechanical failures were found. The gear, flaps and spoilers were found in the retracted position. For takeoff, the flaps should have been extended to the 8° or 20° position. The stall speeds for 20°, 8° and no flaps were 104.5, 109.0 and 119.5 knots, respectively. The captain was an FAA designated flight examiner and a certified flight instructor (cfi).

The aircraft was destroyed when the aircraft struck a 350 foot high hill along its route. This flight was a part 135 on-demand air taxi cargo flight. Several other air taxi operators and company aircraft elected to cancel their flights. Both ground reports and pilot reports stated the weather in the area of the accident was ceilings below 500 feet and visibility less than one mile. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The two aircraft, a Cessna 340A and a North American SNJ-4, collided in flight at approximately 3,000 feet msl over Orlando, FL in VMC with a visibility of 7 miles. Both aircraft were in contact with and being radar vectored by Orlando Approach Control. The Cessna 340 was in level flight and the SNJ was completing a right turn and still descending to 1,500 feet when the collision occurred. Both aircraft were operating under IFR flight rules with the Cessna 340 being vectored to runway 18R at Orlando-Intl (MCO) and the SNJ being directed to Orlando-Executive Airport (ORL). The accident occurred 7 miles northwest of ORL in the MCO Airport radar service outer area. During the vectoring, there was a lack of coordination between controllers during a transfer of control. The receiving controller failed to maintain radar target identification. There was also a lack of traffic advisories. The aircraft pilots were limited in their ability to see due to aircraft structure and relative positions to each other. After the collision, both aircraft crashed in uncontrolled descent. All four occupants in both aircraft were killed.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot requested an 'immediate downwind' to return to the airport and was cleared to land. When asked if equipment was needed, he replied, 'negative, sir, a little matter of fuel.' A witness said the aircraft appeared very low on final approach with both props turning. The aircraft crash landed short of the runway, went thru a perimeter fence and came to rest on an incline about 10 feet short of the runway. The pilot received a head injury and couldn't remember many details of the occurrence. In an early interview, he induced there was a partial power loss and the aircraft yawed, but he couldn't remember which engine 'cut out first.' Later, he was unable to recall losing power. Six gallons of fuel was found in the left main tank, about 1.5 gallon was in the right main tank. The left fuel selector was found in the 'main' position, but due to damage and rescue activities, the position of the right fuel selector was not determined. Both auxiliary pump switches were in the 'off' position. The left propeller control was in the feather position, but neither propeller had feathered. Each main tank held one gallon of unusable fuel. A test of the pilot's blood showed 0,45‰ alcohol.

The right engine failed during takeoff immediately after rotation 3,000 feet down the 7,002 feet runway 16. The pilot continued the flight and the landing gear remained extended. The unauthorized pilot rated passenger made transmissions to the tower. Witnesses reported that the aircraft reached approximately 150 feet then descended into trees 20° to the right of runway centerline and 3,000 feet south of the airport. The pre-1979 3rd stage stator assembly in the right engine did not have the latest manufacture welding process/inspection and failed causing the uncontained turbine failure. Instruments in the wreckage indicated that an undeterminable loss of electrical power occurred at the time of engine failure. Performance data indicated that a safe landing could have been made on the remaining runway past the point of engine failure. Both occupants were killed.

Buffalo Airways flight 721, a regularly scheduled cargo flight, was operating between Oklahoma City, OK, and Fort Wayne, IN (FWA), with en route stops at Wichita, KS (ICT), and Kansas City, MO (MCI). The flight to Wichita was routine. En route to Kansas City, the crew deviated from course to avoid thunderstorms, but the descent into the terminal area was routine. At 21:42 flight 721 contacted the TRACON arrival radar controller. The controller directed the flight to turn to 060 degrees and told the flightcrew that they were being vectored to the ILS localizer for the ILS approach to runway 1. About 21:47 while the airplane was descending through about 6,500 feet, the first officer, who had been flying the airplane, turned the controls over to the captain. Buffalo Airways' regulations required captains to make all the approaches and landings whenever the ceilings and visibilities were less than 400 feet and 1 mile, respectively. At 21:50, after several intermediate descent clearances, flight 721 was cleared to descend to 2,400 feet. At 21:51, the controller told flight 721 that it was "five miles from DOTTE (the LOM), turn left zero four zero, maintain two thousand four hundred until established, cleared ILS runway one approach." The crew had completed the before-landing checklist, the landing gear was down and locked, and the flaps had been extended to 25 degrees, as required, for landing. At 21:52:40, the local controller advised flight 721 that it was No. 2 to land and that the winds were zero four zero at eight knots, and that the RVR on runway 1 was more than 6,000 feet. At 21:52:47, the first officer stated, "Localizer alive." The first office reported the airplane's altitude during the descent in 100-foot increments above "minimums (DH)" until the airplane reached the decision height. At 21:53:07, the first officer called, "Marker inbound." The flightcrew then received ATIS information "Sierra" which stated that the weather at the airport was in part: ceiling--100 feet, overcast; visibility 1/2 mile, fog; wind 40° at 8 knots. At 21:53:24, the captain remarked, "Already started the approach." At 21:53:32, 4 seconds after reporting that the airplane was 200 feet above minimums, the first officer told the local controller that, "Seven twenty-one is the marker inbound." The local controller acknowledged receipt of the message. At 21:53:41, after receiving a low-altitude alert generated by the Automated Radar Tracking System III (ARTS III) computer's Minimum Safe Altitude Warning (MSAW) function, the local controller warned flight 721 to "check altitude immediately should be two thousand four hundred, altimeter two nine six one." Flight 721 did not respond. However, the captain said "Call the radar (radio) altimeter please." At 21:53:46, the first officer responded, "Okay, there's twelve hundred on the (radio) altimeter." At 21:53:50, the local controller again called the flight and warned, "I have a low altitude alert, climb and maintain two thousand four hundred." Again, the flightcrew did not acknowledge receipt of the warning. At 21:53:51, a crewmember called out "pull it up," and at 2153:52, the captain applied power followed almost simultaneously by sounds of initial impact. Flight 721 struck the tops of trees on a 950-foot-high ridge about 3 nmi short of the approach end of runway 1. The airplane cut a relatively level 750- to 800-foot-long swath through the tree tops about 20 to 30 feet above the ground. The swath ended as the ridge and tree tops sloped downward. The airplane then rolled and turned to the right as it descended into the main impact area 2,000 feet beyond the initial impact site. All four occupants were killed.

During a local pleasure flight, the pilot had reduced power and descended to a lower altitude to take pictures of a sailboat race. At approximately 200 feet the pilot made a descending right turn, then leveled off. The aircraft stalled and the pilot lowered the nose and abruptly added power. The engines did not respond in time to regain altitude and airspeed. The aircraft then impacted the water left wing first. On impact a fire started. The aircraft eventually sank and was not recovered. All three occupants were rescued, two of them were seriously injured.