Piper PA-31-350 Navajo Chieftain

After a missed approach at Asheville the flight was cleared to the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport at Greer, SC. Enroute to Greer radar contact was lost. In response to a query from Atlanta artcc the pilot verified his position as being on the 235° radial of Spartanburg VOR and 11.9 miles southwest. He was then cleared to descend to 2,700 feet and execute an ILS approach. The aircraft impacted a mountain at the 3,200 feet level. The wreckage was found on the 235° radial of the Sugarloaf mountain vortac and at 24 miles. Review of the aircraft's logbook revealed that mechanical irregularities reported were not corrected for long periods of time. No corrective action was listed for an "outer marker inop aural and visual (needs to be fixed now, since ADF is also inoperative) and 'light in #2 VOR head out'. The marker beacon was described as inoperative on three dates beginning 22 August 1981 and the ADF was described as inoperative on seven dates beginning 8 May 1981. No corrective action was listed for any entry about the marker beacon or ADF. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The aircraft crashed and burned shortly after taking off in darkness on an IFR flight plan. The weather was reported as indefinite ceiling, zero obscuration, visibility 1/4 mile with fog, wind 120° at 5 knots. A number of witnesses heard the aircraft, both before and after takeoff. The consensus of their statements indicated that one engine lost power while the other continued running at a high power setting. An investigation revealed that an intense post crash fire had consumed most of the aircraft. There was evidence that the plane had crashed in a steep nose down, right wing low attitude and did not move after impact. The right propeller was found in a feathered position. The left propeller blades were curled and twisted. Both engines were disassemble, but no evidence of a mechanical failure was found. The gear and flaps were retracted and the cowl flaps were closed. All three occupants were killed.

The flight was conducting single-engine flight tests with the inboard gear doors removed and was being photographed by a chase aircraft. At the end of the tests the pilot was unable to restart the left engine and returned for a single-engine landing. The pilot overshot the landing attempt and executed a single-engine go-around. The pilot then reported he had a gear problem. An occupant of the chase aircraft reported that the main gear were hanging 75 to 80 degrees from the horizontal. A company employee at the airport reported that the nose gear was about 10° aft of the normal down and locked position. The aircraft continued on a wsw heading away from the airport, passing over several suitable emergency landing sites while in a slow descent until colliding with the guy/grounding wire atop a powerline pole located 4 miles wsw of the arpt. The aircraft was destroyed and both occupants were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Lanseria Airport on a short flight to Pretoria-Wonderboon, carrying four passengers and one pilot. On approach, it collided with a South African Air Force Swearingen SA226AT Merlin IVA registered ZS-JLZ. On a flight from Windhoek, the Merlin was descending to Waterkloof AFB with six passengers and two pilots on board. Following the collision, both aircraft entered a dive and crashed between the districts of Laudium and Erasmia, southeast of Pretoria. Both aircraft were destroyed and all 13 occupants were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed Barrancabermeja-Yariguíes Airport on a charter flight to Cimitarra, carrying four passengers and a crew of two. On final approach, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances few km short of runway. All six occupants were killed.

On final approach to Pikangikum Airport, one of the engine failed. The pilot lost control of the airplane that crashed few km from the airfield. All four occupants were killed.

On approach to Saravena-Los Colonizadores Airport, the crew encountered technical problems. The airplane went out of control and crashed in a pasture located about 7 km from the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and all 10 occupants were killed, among them six employees of Ecopetrol and two employees of the Parker Drilling Company.

The pilot was trying to land after both engines failed during takeoff after the aircraft was refueled with jet fuel instead of gasoline. The weather was IFR with fog, low ceiling and rain. The aircraft collided with trees during a forced landing and was destroyed by fire after impact. All three occupants were killed.

As the pilot was descending from 7,000 to 5,000 feet, he heard a loud bang, followed by a temporary vibration and a violent swerve to the right. He looked out the right window and thought the right engine had fallen off since all he could see was the tops of the engine mounts. The aircraft was controllable only after reducing the left engine power to idle. During a wheels up/forced landing, the plane tore through a fence, slid across a paved road, went over an embankment and began burning after it came to rest. The pilot received a back injury and had difficulty egressing. An investigation revealed the propeller hub had failed from fatigue which resulted in blade separation and subsequent engine tearaway. The engine had remained attached to the airframe by cables. Metallurgical examination of the hub revealed that the fatigue originated at a threaded grease fitting. Gouging was visible on the inner wall. A set of incorrect counterweights were found on the propeller. The counterweight's function was to reduce vibration.

While on a night approach to Durango-La Plata County Airport, the pilot decided to initiate a go-around. For unknown reasons, the twin engine airplane failed to gain sufficient height, struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located few miles from the airport. Two passengers were seriously injured while four other occupants were killed.