Mon, Apr 30, 2007
Plane Crashed On Approach To Land
In its Preliminary Report issued
last week on the fatal April 16 crash of a homebuilt Wheeler
Express near Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport in Florida, the
National Transportation Safety Board notes the pilot of the
accident aircraft was advised by controllers to not overshoot a
base-to-final turn to Runway 27R.
As Aero-News reported, the
aircraft (file photo of type, right) was on approach to land at LAL
when it descended and impacted a vacant building less than one-half
mile from the runway. Both the pilot and passenger onboard the
two-seat aircraft were killed.
The NTSB notes "[a]ccording to preliminary air traffic control
information, the airplane entered a right downwind for runway 27R,
and the pilot was advised to turn base, and not overshoot the
runway. The flight was then cleared to land on runway 27R.
"While turning base to final, witnesses observed the airplane
enter a descend [sic] and descend nearly vertical. While
descending, the airplane collided with a tree then the ground. One
witness reported to the FAA inspector-in-charge (FAA-IIC) hearing
the engine rev-up before impact, while another witness reported to
the FAA-IIC hearing a sputtering sound from the engine.
"The accident site was located approximately .47 nautical mile
and 112 degrees from the approach end of runway 27L," the report
states.
The NTSB report does not mention weather conditions at the time
of the accident. ANN staffers on the ground at LAL for the start of
the 2007 Lakeland Fly-In noted a brisk quartering headwind on the
ground at the time of the accident, at roughly 300
degrees.
Runway 9L/27R is normally Taxiway Alpha, but is called into duty
as a parallel runway for small-to-medium-size aircraft during the
annual fly-in.
More News
Pilot Also Reported That Due To A Fuel Leak, The Auxiliary Fuel Tanks Were Not Used On June 4, 2025, at 13:41 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-23, N2109P, was substantially damage>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2023 (YouTube Edition): Reflections on War’s Collective Lessons and Cyclical Nature The exigencies of war ought be colorblind. Inane social-constructs the likes of racis>[...]
Aero Linx: Colorado Pilots Association (CPA) Colorado Pilots Association was incorporated as a Colorado Nonprofit Corporation in 1972. It is a statewide organization with over 700 >[...]
High Speed Taxiway A long radius taxiway designed and provided with lighting or marking to define the path of aircraft, traveling at high speed (up to 60 knots), from the runway ce>[...]
NTSB Prelim: Piper PA-23
See All