Landing (descent or approach)

On September 9, 2022, about 1502 eastern daylight time, a Cirrus Design Corp SF50, N77VJ, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Saint Cloud, Florida. The private pilot and two passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot stated that as part of his flight preparation he obtained weather information, then before departure provided a passenger safety briefing. The flight departed Miami-Opa Locka Executive Airport (OPF), Miami, Florida, destined for Kissimmee Gateway Airport (ISM), Orlando, Florida, maintaining contact along the route of flight with several Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control facilities as appropriate. While en route the pilot obtained the automated terminal information service information at ISM, which indicated light rain and ceilings at 4,600 and 3,800 ft. He was informed by the controller to expect heavy rain and the RNAV (GPS) runway 33 approach, circle to land runway 24. He was then instructed to proceeded direct AXMEB (intermediate fix for the RNAV (GPS) Runway 33 approach) and to cross AXMEB at 2,000 ft msl. He selected NAV and VNAV modes of the autopilot to cross AXMEB at 2,000 ft msl. While descending, he reduced engine power to between 25% and 30% and reviewed the approach. The airplane was equipped with a recoverable data module (RDM) which recorded flight and engine parameters. The data reflected that when the airplane was just north of AXMEB, it turned right and flew toward LOJUF, which was the final approach fix (FAF) for the RNAV (GPS) Runway 33 approach. The airplane continued flying in that general direction at 2,000 ft pressure altitude from 1455 until about 1459, with a reduced power setting (20%) for nearly half that time. The pilot stated that he heard an airspeed aural warning and according to the recorded data the indicated airspeed reduced to about 102 knots. The pilot noted that the reduced airspeed was not common for that portion of the approach or the airplane’s configuration. He added an additional 10% to 15% of engine power which usually recovered airspeed, but when it did not, he added additional engine power. The pilot scanned the attitude indicator which was “OK,” and reported that the airplane then made an uncommanded right turn. He disconnected the autopilot, attempted to roll the wings level; about that time the data reflected that the airplane deviated to the left and climbed with the indicated airspeed decreasing. The pilot pushed the nose down to maintain airspeed, which resulted in his laptop and iPhone “floating.” The airplane was in instrument meteorological conditions, and the pilot informed the passengers that he would be deploying the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS). The airplane was flying at 119 knots in a slight nose-up pitch attitude, about 45° left roll, and at 3,150 ft pressure altitude when the CAPS activation occurred. The airplane touched down hard in a marsh area behind a house in a residential area and sustained substantial damage. All occupants exited the airplane and were taken to a hospital for evaluation. The airplane was retained for examination.

On September 9, 2022, at 1314 Pacific daylight time, a Gates Lear Jet Corp. 36, N26FN, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident at North Island Naval Station (Halsey Field) Airport (NZY), San Diego, California. The two pilots sustained minor injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 business flight. The flight departed from NZY to provide air services to a naval ship. During the return flight to NZY, the crew planned for an instrument approach. Air Traffic Control (ATC) advised that the airport was reporting visual flight rules (VFR) and if the airport was in sight, a visual approach was available. The pilots noted a staggered cloud base and maneuvered to maintain visual contact with the airport. The pilots calculated Vref (reference speed) as 140 KIAS (knots indicated airspeed) for their landing weight (14,900 lbs.) with 20° of flaps; the landing distance was approximately 4,200 ft and included factors for 20° flaps and wet runway conditions. According to the pilots’ statement, runway 36 has a total distance of 8,000 ft. The pilots reported that the spoilers were deployed on touchdown and breaking was applied. The airplane did not decelerate in a normal manner and appeared to be hydroplaning. The antiskid system was activated, and the brakes were briefly released before they were reapplied; there was no difference in deceleration. At the 5,000 ft remaining sign, a callout was made that the airplane was not decelerating and appeared to be accelerating. At the 1,000 ft remaining runway sign, the second in command called out ‘100 kts.’ There was not enough available runway to stop, and the airplane exited the runway and went over the sea wall and came to rest in the bay.

The airplane was completing local skydiving flights out from Piotrków Trybunalski Airport located 45 km southeast from Łodz. After 20 skydivers have been dropped, the crew was returning to the airport when, on final approach, the airplane stalled and crashed in a field. The aircraft was totally destroyed by impact forces and both occupants were killed.

The pilot of the single-engine airplane was operating in the airport traffic pattern and had been making position reports on the airport’s common traffic advisory frequency (CTAF). The pilot of the multi-engine airplane made an initial radio call on the CTAF 10 miles from the airport, announcing his intention to perform a straight-in approach for landing. Both pilots continued to make appropriate position reports, but did not communicate with each other until the multi engine airplane was about one mile from the airport and the single-engine airplane had turned onto the base leg of the traffic pattern for landing. Realizing that the multi-engine airplane was converging upon him, the pilot of the single-engine airplane announced a go-around, and the airplanes collided on final approach for the runway about 150 ft above ground level (agl). Examination of the airplanes revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The multi-engine airplane’s wing flaps and landing gear were both retracted at the accident site, consistent with the pilot’s failure to configure the airplane for landing, and flight track information indicated that the pilot maintained a ground speed of about 180 knots throughout the approach until the collision occurred, which may have reduced the time available for him to see and avoid the single engine airplane. The toxicology report for the pilot of the single-engine airplane revealed THC, metabolites for THC, metabolites for cocaine, and ketamine; the low amounts of each drug were not considered causal to the accident. The toxicology report for the multi-engine airplane pilot revealed THC, and metabolites of THC; the low amounts of each drug were not considered causal to the accident.

The twin engine airplane was completing an illegal/contraband flight from Colombia. After entering illegally the Mexican airspace, the airplane was tracked by two Embraer ERJ-145 and three UH-60 Black Hawk of the Mexican Air Force. The crew landed in a prairie located near La Libertad, Campeche. Upon touchdown, the airplane lost its undercarriage and slid for few dozen metres before hitting a person on ground and coming to rest. All occupants and people who were supposed to take delivery of the load fled the scene before the police arrived. The person apparently hit by a propeller was killed. A load of 460 kg of cocaine was found in the cabin. The airplane was operated with the false registration N325FA.

The aircraft departed Goiânia-Nacional de Aviação Airport Runway 14 at 1012LT on a local test flight with three crew members on board. After reaching FL340, several tests were completed then the crew made a high speed descent before landing on runway 32. After touchdown and a course of about 700 metres, the airplane veered off runway to the right, collided with a concrete wall, lost its nose gear and came to rest near the perimeter fence. All three occupants evacuated safely.

Upon landing at Mogadishu-Aden Abdulle Airport runway 05, the airplane went out of control, veered off runway, lost its left wing and crashed upside down, bursting into flames. The fire was quickly extinguished and all 36 occupants evacuated, three passengers suffered minor injuries.

On July 17, 2022, about 1204 pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-46-350P airplane, N97CX, and a Cessna 172N airplane, N160RA, were destroyed when they were involved in an accident near Las Vegas, Nevada. The two pilots in the PA-46, and the flight instructor and student pilot in the Cessna 172, were fatally injured. The PA-46 was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight, and the Cessna 172 was operated as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight. Both airplanes were maneuvering to land at North Las Vegas Airport (VGT), Las Vegas Nevada, when the accident occurred. N97CX had been instructed by air traffic control (ATC) to fly left traffic for runway 30L and N160RA had been instructed to fly right traffic for runway 30R. The airplanes collided about 0.25 nautical miles from the approach end of runway 30R. Figure 1 shows a simplified flight path diagram for the accident flights based on Federal Aviation Administration Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) data. N97CX was operating as an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight and had departed from Coeur d'Alene Airport - Pappy Boyington Field (COE), Coeur d'Alene, Idaho about 0943, destined for VGT. N160RA was operating as a visual flight rules (VFR) training flight at VGT. N160RA was in the VFR traffic pattern for runway 30R, flying a right-hand traffic pattern and communicating with the VGT local controller. N97CX was inbound from the north on an IFR flight plan from COE. At 1156:08, the Nellis Radar Approach Control air traffic controller cleared N97CX for the visual approach and instructed the pilot to overfly VGT at midfield for left traffic to runway 30L. Air traffic control responsibility for the flight was transferred from Nellis Radar Approach Control to VGT at 1158:26. At 1158:43, the pilot of N97CX contacted the VGT local controller and reported “descending out of 7,600 feet msl for landing on three zero left and ah Nellis said to cross midfield.” The VGT local controller responded, “continue for three zero left.” The pilot acknowledged and stated, “okay continue for runway three zero left nine seven charlie x-ray we will cross over midfield.” At 1200:03, the pilot of N160RA requested a “short approach.” The VGT local controller transmitted “zero romeo alpha short approach approved runway three zero right cleared for the option,” which was acknowledged by N160RA. This information is preliminary and subject to change. At 1201:36, the VGT local controller transmitted “november seven charlie x-ray runway three zero left cleared to land.” The pilot of N97CX responded “three zero left cleared to land nine seven charlie x-ray.” At 1201:57, the VGT local controller transmitted “seven charlie x-ray I think I said it right runway three zero left seven charlie x-ray runway three zero left.” At 1202:02 the pilot of N97CX transmitted “yeah affirmative runway three zero left that’s what i heard nine seven charlie x-ray”. There were no further transmissions from either airplane. Examination of N97CX revealed that the airplane impacted in a nose low, right wing down attitude. The landing gear was down, and the right main landing gear was displaced outboard. The right wing displayed an impact separation around wing station (WS) 93. The right inboard wing section remained attached to the fuselage but was canted aft. The right wing flap was fractured about midspan; the inboard section remained attached to the wing and was found in the extended position. The outboard half of the flap was found about 10 ft forward of the right wing. The right wing leading edge displayed a series of crush impressions to the leading edge about 2.5 ft outboard of the wing root. The impressions contained flakes of green primer, and cuts to the de-ice boot. The outboard right wing section remained attached to the inboard wing by the aileron control cables. The aileron remained attached to the outboard wing section but was impact damaged. The outboard leading edge was crushed up and aft. The right wingtip fairing and pitot tube were also impact separated. Longitudinal scratches were visible along the right side of the fuselage. Examination of N160RA revealed that, the airplane had impacted terrain in a left-wing and nose-low attitude before coming to rest inverted on a 304°magnetic heading. Both inboard portions of the wings sustained thermal damage in the areas surrounding the fuel tanks, and the cabin and fuselage, except for the cabin roof, were consumed by a post-impact fire. Blue paint transfer was observed on the lower surface of the separated outboard left wing and the lower surface of the left wing flap. Black de-ice boot material transfer was observed on the lower surface of the separated outboard left wing, the lower surface of the attached portion of the left wing at approximately WS 100, and for an approximate 5 ft long distance outboard of the strut attach point, along the lower leading edge. About 4 ft of the left wing, which included the left aileron, was separated from the left wing, and was found on the edge of a culvert just south of the main wreckage. The left outboard wing section aft of the forward spar was found to be separated near the aileron-flap junction. The left wing flap was found to be separated from the wing.

The four engine airplane departed Niš at 2036LT on a cargo flight to Amman, carrying eight crew members and a load of 12 tons of various goods. Bound to the southeast over the Aegean Sea, the crew was cruising at FL210 when they reported technical problems. Cleared to divert to Kavala Airport, the pilot made a 180 turn and started the descent. On approach to Kavala Airport at night with one engine on fire, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed at a speed of 200 knots in an agricultural zone located just out of the village of Eleftheroupolis, bursting into flames. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all eight occupants were killed. The wreckage was found 12 km west of Kavala Airport. According to the Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Stefanovic, the plane was carrying armaments, including flare mortar mines, bound for Bangladesh.

While attempting to land at night, the single engine airplane collided with a power line and crashed in a wooded area, coming to rest upside down. The wreckage was found some 10 km north of the Armavir Airport. Both occupants were killed.