Contributor - Safety

David Jack Kenny

<h2>Preliminary Reports</h2>
<h3>Pilot Reported No Brakes before CJ4 Overrun</h3>
Cessna Citation CJ4, Sept. 18, 2025,, Mayfield, Kentucky
The sole-occupant pilot of a Cessna Citation CJ4 told investigators he experienced “no braking action” after landing at Mayfield Graves County Airport (M25), leading to a runway overrun that ended with the aircraft striking a house. According to the NTSB’s preliminary report, the airplane had just completed maintenance at St. Louis Regional Airport (KALN) and was returning to its base under Part 91.
The pilot reported an uneventful flight until landing. He flew a straight-in visual approach to Runway 19 and said he “configured the airplane for landing later than intended,” though the approach was stabilized. After touchdown on the centerline, he “deployed the ground spoilers and pressed firmly on the brakes,” but observed no deceleration.
“The pilot applied greater force to the brakes; however, the airplane began to veer to the right, and there was still no observed slowing of the airplane,” the report states. Believing there was insufficient runway to attempt a go-around, the pilot left the engines at idle and continued rolling while maintaining directional control and “applying downward force to the yoke.”
The aircraft overran the runway, broke through the airport perimeter fence, crossed Kentucky Route 58, and struck a house. The aircraft sustained substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage, but there was no post-impact fire.
The weather at the time was clear with light winds and good visibility.
<h3>Two Fatalities in Texas King Air Crash</h3>
Beechcraft C90 King Air, Oct. 12, 2025, Fort Worth, Texas
The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger were killed when the twin-engine turboprop crashed inverted, striking “numerous parked, unoccupied commercial vehicles” and triggering an explosion and fire that “consumed nearly the entire airplane.” The accident occurred near Fort Worth’s Hicks Airfield (T67) about an hour and a half into what the flight track suggests may have been a training or proficiency flight.
The King Air took off from Perot Field/Fort Worth Alliance Airport at 12:03 and “performed several approaches to the Bowie Municipal Airport.” It then flew south, making one 360-degree right turn, turned to the southeast at 13:25, and eight minutes later made a right turn towards T67. A pilot at T67 heard the crew announce a five-mile final approach, but about 1.3 nautical miles from the approach end of Runway 14, the airplane broke it off and made a left turn to the north.
Video cameras near the accident site recorded the King Air flying low over power lines with the gear extended, then beginning to descend and rolling left through 90 degrees of bank to crash inverted with the left wing low. Identifiable parts of the wreckage included both engines and propellers, which were recovered for examination.
<h2>No Survivors in Kenyan Bush Accident</h2>
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, Oct. 28, 2025, Diani, Kwale County, Kenya
The scheduled flight from the Dinai airport to the Maasai Mara National Reserve struck a forested hillside in what was described as “heavy rain,” killing the Kenyan pilot and all 10 passengers. A post-accident fire consumed much of the aircraft, and access to the site about 25 miles from the airport was impeded by unpaved roads and poor weather.
The Diani control tower reported losing contact with the pilot shortly after takeoff.
<h2>Final Reports</h2>
<h3>Unexplained Power Reduction Preceded Fatal Departure Stall</h3>
Piper PA-46-350P JetProp conversion, Oct. 30, 2023, McCook, Nebraska
Data recovered from the airplane’s Electronics International MVP-50T engine monitor showed that the engine reached its maximum output of 1,070 foot-pounds of torque eight seconds before liftoff. The Pilot’s Operating Handbook for the JetProp DLX conversion called for takeoff torque of about 1,200 foot-pounds. Torque was only 710 foot-pounds when a positive rate of climb was recorded and had fallen to 290 foot-pounds at the last recorded data point. The 79-year-old private pilot was killed, and his sole passenger, seated in a rear-facing seat, was seriously injured when the airplane stalled from an altitude of about 100 feet. Investigators found no evidence of engine malfunction, but the throttle quadrant’s friction lock was found disengaged.
The pilot bought the airplane in March 2006 and had the JetProp conversion performed in March 2017, having completed the appropriate ground school and flight training the previous month. His logbooks showed about 4,500 hours of flight experience that included 676.8 in make and model with 15.3 in the preceding 30 days, and his last flight review was accomplished eight days before the accident. A pilot-rated friend who had flown with him frequently described him as “proficient…and…very safe,” adding that he would “ease into the power and not go to full torque.”
Investigators determined that the airplane was loaded 554 pounds above maximum gross with its center of gravity half an inch aft of limits. A flight instructor familiar with the pilot said that he’d always seen him with “a lot of hunting gear.”
<h3>Engine Runaway Leads to Long Landing</h3>
Cessna 208B, Jan. 8, 2024, Lizard Island Airport, Queensland, Australia
The pilot and all nine passengers escaped with minor injuries after the airplane ran off the end of the runway and overturned during an attempted emergency landing. Six minutes after taking off from the Lizard Island Airport on a charter flight to Cairns, as the Caravan climbed through 3,400 feet at an airspeed of 102 knots, the pilot “noted a change to the engine sound” and saw that the airplane was accelerating. Both the torque and interturbine temperature readings on the multifunction display’s engine gauges were above redline, while red Xs showed that the gas generator speed and fuel flow were no longer indicating. Propeller speed remained at the high end of its green operating range.
The airplane continued to climb and accelerate as the pilot turned back toward Lizard Island, reaching 4,000 feet at 166 knots over the next two minutes. Moving the power and emergency power levers had no effect, while moving the propeller control reduced thrust somewhat. A shallow descent under power during a wide orbit of the island with flaps deployed reduced altitude enough to attempt a landing on Runway 12; to avoid coming up short and striking a maintenance building at the approach end, the pilot made a power-on approach. The Caravan crossed the threshold at 123 knots, well above the normal 75-85 knot approach speed, and floated down two-thirds of the down-sloping runway before touching down at 100 knots. After departing the runway and crossing “undulating sandy soil and low vegetation,” the left wing struck the ground, flipping the aircraft.
The engine runaway was attributed to a malfunction of the fuel control unit (FCU). The ATSB report notes that emergency procedure training for PT6A-powered airplanes covers rollbacks to idle but not uncommanded acceleration or inability to reduce power, though the latter is the most common type of FCU-related malfunctions or failure modes.
<h3>Bird Strike Lethal to Passenger</h3>
Bell 206L-3, July 14, 2025, 16 km WNW of Lake Evella Aerodrome, Northern Territory, Australia
A large bird subsequently identified as a white-bellied sea eagle crashed through the acrylic windshield, causing minor damage to the helicopter but fatally injuring the passenger in the left front seat. The accident occurred during a charter flight from Mirmatja to Burrum, the last of a series the pilot flew around the Arnhem region of the Northern Territory that day. In cruise flight at 900 feet, the pilot was looking out the left side when there was a loud bang, and the pilot observed “a large bird laying between the two occupants, and what appeared to be serious injuries to the passenger’s upper body.”
Unable to detect the passenger’s pulse, the pilot landed at the Lake Evella Aerodrome to get help from the adjacent police station. Police, a doctor, and a nurse responded but were unable to revive the passenger, who had frequently traveled this route for work and had commuted by helicopter since 1995.
<h3>Resonance Cited in Shipboard Accident</h3>
Agusta A109E, Feb. 25, 2025, 200 km northeast of Mackay, Queensland, Australia
The ATSB and the aircraft’s manufacturer both attributed the helicopter’s destruction during an attempted takeoff from the bulk carrier Star Coral to an episode of ground resonance. The flight was intended to transit to a nearby outbound ship on the second leg of a three-flight marine pilot transfer mission, picking up the outbound ship’s pilot after having transported another to the inbound Star Coral. Two airmen were on board for what was typically a single--pilot operation in order to provide a new hire with pilot-in-command experience under the supervision of a company check pilot.
The inbound flight and landing were completed without incident. The helicopter remained on the helideck at flight idle for about five minutes as the crew waited for the outbound ship to approach. Pre-takeoff checks appeared normal. As engine torque increased above 50%, the pilot flying began raising the collective and felt the craft become light on its landing gear; then both pilots experienced “a sudden and substantial vibration.” Seeing the cyclic in “an abnormally aft position,” the supervisor seized the controls unannounced while the pilot flying continued trying to take off. Each subsequently suggested that the other had lowered the collective, causing the helicopter to “bounce heavily on the helideck.”
The vibrations intensified “into a violent vertical oscillation of the airframe,” the cyclic became uncontrollable, and the crew struggled to shut down the engines. The helicopter eventually came to rest. The tail rotor had separated, the main rotor blades were fragmented, and the fuselage sustained substantial damage. Both pilots suffered minor injuries, and the freighter’s crew was unharmed.
Ground resonance is a phenomenon specific to helicopters with fully-articulated main rotor systems, in which a jolt can knock one blade out of phase with the rest, causing vibrations that, if not corrected, can quickly amplify until the aircraft shakes itself apart. With sufficient main rotor rpm, lifting off allows aerodynamic forces to realign the blades automatically. Otherwise, lowering the collective and reducing main rotor rpm as rapidly as possible offers the best chance of avoiding damage. ζ
— Amy Wilder contributed to this report report

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