Plain, Valley

The Cessna had departed about 3 minutes prior on a scheduled passenger flight and the Piper was en route to a remote hunting camp when the two airplanes collided at an altitude about 1,760 ft mean sea level over a remote area in day, visual meteorological conditions. The airline transport pilot and two passengers onboard the Cessna and the commercial pilot and the passenger onboard the Piper were fatally injured; both airplanes were destroyed. Post accident examination revealed signatures consistent with the Cessna's outboard left wing initially impacting the Piper's right wing forward strut while in level cruise flight. Examination revealed no mechanical malfunctions or anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of either airplane. Neither pilot was in communication with an air traffic control facility and they were not required to be. A performance and visibility study indicated that each airplane would have remained a relatively small, slow-moving object in the other pilot's window (their fuselages spanning less than 0.5° of the field of view, equivalent to the diameter of a penny viewed from about 7 ft away) until about 10 seconds before the collision, at which time it would have appeared to grow in size suddenly (the "blossom" effect). From about 2 minutes before the collision, neither airplane would have been obscured from the other airplane pilot's (nominal) field of view by cockpit structure, although the Cessna would have appeared close to the bottom of the Piper's right wing and near the forward edge of its forward wing strut. The Cessna was Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out equipped; the Piper was not ADS-B equipped, and neither airplane was equipped with any cockpit display of traffic information (CDTI). CDTI data would have presented visual information regarding the potential conflict to both pilots beginning about 2 minutes 39 seconds and auditory information beginning about 39 seconds before the collision, providing adequate time for the pilots to react. The see-and-avoid concept requires a pilot to look through the cockpit windows, identify other aircraft, decide if any aircraft are collision threats, and, if necessary, take the appropriate action to avert a collision. There are inherent limitations of this concept, including limitations of the human visual and information processing systems, pilot tasks that compete with the requirement to scan for traffic, the limited field of view from the cockpit, and environmental factors that could diminish the visibility of other aircraft. Given the remote area in which the airplanes were operating, it is likely that the pilots had relaxed their vigilance in looking for traffic. The circumstances of this accident underscore the difficultly in seeing airborne traffic by pilots; the foundation of the "see and avoid" concept in VMC, even when the cockpit visibility offers opportunities to do so, and particularly when the pilots have no warning of traffic in the vicinity. Due to the level of trauma sustained to the Cessna pilot, the autopsy was inconclusive for the presence of natural disease. It was undetermined if natural disease could have presented a significant hazard to flight safety.

The crew was performing a cargo flight from La Paragua to Canaima. While descending to Canaima in the early morning, the crew encountered an unexpected situation and was forced to attempt an emergency landing. The airplane crashed some 34 km northeast of the intended destination, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire and both occupants were killed.
Crew:
Johnny Ramirez, pilot,
José Angel Soto Zapata, copilot.

About 13 minutes after takeoff for a medical transport flight, while climbing through about 14,900 ft mean sea level (msl), the pilot reported to air traffic control (ATC) that he was smelling smoke in the cockpit and would be returning to the originating airport. The flight was cleared to return with a descent at pilot's discretion to 9,000 ft msl. The pilot replied, "okay," and said that it looked like he was going to lose some power shortly. The pilot then stated that he had smoke in the cockpit, declared an emergency, and requested that ATC contact the fire department. About 1 minute 15 seconds after the initial report of smelling smoke, the pilot made the last radio transmission of the flight stating that he had three people on board. The wreckage was located about 9 hours later in an area of brush and heavily forested terrain. Portions of the burned and fragmented wreckage were scattered along a debris path that measured about 2,400 ft in length, which is consistent with an inflight breakup. The center fuselage and cockpit areas were largely intact and displayed no evidence of fire; however, there was an area of thermal damage to the forward fuselage consistent with an inflight fire. The thermal damage was primarily limited to the floor area between the two forward seats near the main bus tie circuit breaker panel and extended to the forward edge of the wing spar. All exposed surfaces were heavily sooted. Some localized melting and thermal-related tearing of the aluminum structure was present. The primer paint on the floor panels under the right aft corner of the pilot seat and the left aft corner of the co-pilot seat was discolored dark brown. An aluminum stringer in this location exhibited broomstrawing indicating that the stringer material was heated to near its melting point prior to impact. A single wire located in the area exhibited notching consistent with mechanical rubbing. The main bus tie circuit breakers were partially missing. The remaining breakers were heavily sooted on their aft ends, and one breaker was thermally discolored. Areas of charring were on the backside of the panel. Examination of the wiring in this area showed evidence of electrical arcing damage. Four hydraulic lines servicing the landing gear system were located in this area, and all the lines exhibited signs of thermal exposure with melting and missing sections of material. Six exemplar airplanes of the same make and model as the accident airplane were examined, and instances of unsafe conditions in which electrical lines and hydraulic lines in the area of the main bus tie circuit breaker panel were in direct contact were found on all six airplanes. Some of the wires in the exemplar airplanes showed chafing between hydraulic lines and the electrical wires, which, if left uncorrected, could have led to electrical arcing and subsequent fire. Based on the unsafe conditions found during examination of the exemplar airplanes and the thermal damage to the area near the main bus tie circuit breaker panel on the accident airplane, including broomstrawing of the aluminum structure, electrical arcing damage to the wiring, and melting of the hydraulic lines, it is likely that an electrical wire near the tie bus circuit breakers chafed on a hydraulic line and/or airplane structure, which resulted in arcing and a subsequent in-flight fire that was fed by the hydraulic fluid.

The aircraft departed Irkutsk Airport at 1019LT on a fire fighting mission in the region of Bayanday. As the crew was approaching the area to be treated, the aircraft impacted trees and crashed in a wooded area, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire. The wreckage was found two days later and all 10 crew members were killed.
Crew:
L.S. Owl, pilot,
A. A. Lebedev, copilot,
G. L. Petrov, navigator,
V. N. Kuznetsov, flight engineer,
I. E. Murahin, radio operator,
S. A. Makarov, flight operator,
S. A. Souslov, flight operator,
M. M. Khadayev, flight operator,
V. G. Jdanov, operator,
A. M. Mashnin, operator.

The airplane was engaged in a crop spraying mission, carrying a load of herbicides, one passenger and one pilot. In the early morning, while completing a seventh low pass, at a height of about 20-40 metres, the pilot initiated a left turn when the aircraft descended to the ground and crashed at a speed of 140 km/h in an open field, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and a post crash fire and both occupants were killed.

The crew departed Volos-Néa Anchialos Airport in the morning on a firefighting mission over Beotia. En route, the left engine caught fire. The crew attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed in a wooded area located near Dervenochoria, bursting into flames. The aircraft was destroyed by a post impact fire and both pilots escaped with minor injuries.

The aircraft was engaged in a crop spraying mission in Bereke, northwest of Almaty, carrying one pilot and one passenger, a mechanic. While flying at low height, the engine started to vibrate and lost power. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the airplane hit the ground and crashed, bursting into flames. The pilot was killed and the mechanic was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire.

On the afternoon of the 19th of June 2016 a Pilatus PC-6 aircraft, German registration DFSCB, took off from the airfield of Figueira dos Cavaleiros (LPFC) for its 17th launch of skydivers that day. On this flight there were 8 persons on board: 1 pilot, 5 skydivers and 2 passengers that were jumping in tandem with two of the skydivers. The meteorology featured a day with clear sky, the wind blew from 040° with 10 kt and the air temperature was around 32° C. The Pilatus took off for a local skydiving training flight and started a climb to an altitude of 14.500 ft. During the initial climb at a rate of 1.000 feet per minute, when crossing 7.000 feet above mean sea level, according to some of the skydivers in the group, a sound similar to the cracking/ripping of a metal structure was heard, and simultaneously the aircraft pitched up to a high nose-up attitude while yawing to the right, causing a severe flight instability. Suddenly, the entire rear fuselage structure disintegrated. According to the reports, some occupants were pushed against the structure of the aircraft before they were thrown outside. During the following seconds the skydivers who did not suffer serious injuries, managed to jump out of the plane and triggered their parachutes. Two of them were seriously injured before leaving the aircraft, their emergency parachutes being automatically deployed by the barometric opening mechanism. As a result, the disintegration of the remaining aircraft parts continued until the impact with the ground. Fragments of the aircraft parts were found over a length of approximately 1.500 meters and a width of about 500 meters and were widely dispersed, with an alignment with the direction of flight from west to east. The pilot was thrown out of the remains of the cockpit and hit the ground at about 400 meters from the impact site of the cabin. He did not trigger his parachute and it was not, nor is it a procedure to be equipped with an emergency parachute with an automatic barometric opening mechanism.

The aircraft, operated by Skydive Kalifornia (aka Skydive Toscana) was involved in a local skydiving flight from Cecina Airfield. When the aircraft reached the assigned altitude, six of the seven skydivers bailed out. When the seventh skydiver elected to jump, his auxiliary parachute accidentally opened while the skydiver was still in the cabin. He was sucked outside and collided with the right horizontal stabilizer that later detached. The aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in a field. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and both pilots were killed. There was no fire. All seven skydivers were uninjured.

The twin engine aircraft performed a technical stop in Boise, Idaho, enroute from Arizona to Kelowna. While flying at an altitude of 8,500 feet, both engines failed simultaneously. The pilot reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing in a flat area located near Beaverdell, about 37 miles south of Kelowna. By night, the airplane crash landed in a Christmas tree plantation, hit several trees and a fence and eventually came to rest. All six occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair. According to preliminary information, there was still enough fuel in the tanks, and investigations will have to determine the cause of the double engine failure.