As we reflect on and close out 2025 this New Year’s Eve, I hope everyone had a safe, healthy and meaningful holiday season.
My wish for you all is that 2026 be a year that dreams come true, hard work reaps great results and rewards, you stay safe and healthy and that your family and friends keep you company.
For those who are standing a watch tonight, military or public servant, our thoughts and prayers are with you all………
Let me close the year with this quote from Benjamin Franklin;
” Be at War with your Vices, at Peace with your Neighbors, and let every New-Year find you a better Man.”
Now here are the news stories for the last time in 2025...
Oh, and one last thing, tonight is New Years Eve, the mother of all amateur nights. Have a great time, but keep your head on a swivel and don't do anything stupid.
In other words, Be Extra Safe Out There Tonight!
Tom
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Small plane blown off runway while pilot conducting touch-and-go exercises in Franklin County
By DeJuan Hoggard
LOUISBURG, N.C. (WTVD) -- Emergency crews are
looking into a small-plane accident that left the pilot with minor injuries in Louisburg on Tuesday.
First responders were dispatched just before 9:30 a.m. to Airport Road near Triangle North Executive Airport. The pilot of a Cirrus SR-20 was conducting touch-and-go exercises when a wind gust blew the plane off the runway as he was attempting to land.
"We get on scene, it's a small airplane. One passenger, we start to ease up a little bit, but we still are taking all the precautions we need to make sure that person's being taken care of and the scene is made secure," said Nicholas Thorpe with Franklin County Emergency Management.
The pilot escaped with only minor injuries. The aircraft sustained damage to the landing gear, a wing, and the front of the plane.
The pilot was attempting to land when a large wind gust blew the plane out of position.
"He took out a couple of lights and fixtures that are next to the runway, and he ended up in the embankment next to the runway," Thorpe said.
Crews pulled the plane out of the embankment on Tuesday afternoon and towed it away on a flatbed truck.
Thorpe said his team initially went into "assess mode."
"When we get a phone call about a plane crash, I
think a lot of things go through our mind," Thorpe said. "Number of people involved, type of aircraft, where it's located. And so we're processing all that as we're getting more information from 911."
ABC11 learned that the plane is owned by McKnight Aviation. According to flight records, the Cessna was airborne for about seven minutes before the mishap occurred.
"The pilot was very skilled, was able to bring the plane into control. And unfortunately, this happened for him and caused moderate damage to his aircraft," Thorpe said.
According to flight records, the plane was last flown on Oct. 13.
The pilot's name has not been released.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will investigate the incident.
https://abc11.com/post/plane-crash-nc-investigation-underway-small-aircraft-makes-emergency-landing-louisburg-north-carolina/18333111/
NTSB Final Report: Beech A23-24
During The Rejected Takeoff, He Reduced Power And Applied Brakes But Was Unable To Stop
Location: Windham, Connecticut Accident Number: ERA25LA279
Date & Time: July 25, 2025, 19:40 Local Registration: N469JS
Aircraft: Beech A23-24 Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Defining Event: Runway excursion Injuries: 2 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal
Analysis: The pilot was attempting to depart from a 2,799-ft-long runway. During the takeoff roll, he rejected the takeoff after the airplane had used about 2,100 ft of the runway and had not reached rotation speed. During the rejected takeoff, he reduced power and applied brakes but was unable to stop. The airplane exited the runway and traversed across the grass. He initiated a left turn in an attempt to avoid an airport perimeter fence, but the airplane impacted the fence and came to rest about 260 ft from the departure end of the runway. The airplane’s fuselage was substantially damaged during the accident sequence. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that he should not have attempted to depart from the shorter of the two available runways.
Probable Cause and Findings: The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be -- The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning, which resulted in a rejected takeoff and subsequent runway excursion.
FMI: www.ntsb.gov
Today in History
57 Years ago today: On 31 December 1968 MacRobertson Miller Airlines flight 1750, a Vickers Viscount, crashed following a a failure of the right-hand wing south of Port Hedland, Australia, killing all 26 occupants.
| Date: | Tuesday 31 December 1968 |
| Time: | 11:34 |
| Type: | Vickers 720C Viscount |
| Owner/operator: | MacRobertson Miller Airlines, lsf Ansett-ANA |
| Registration: | VH-RMQ |
| MSN: | 45 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1954 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 31746 hours |
| Cycles: | 25336 flights |
| Engine model: | Rolls-Royce Dart 505 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 26 / Occupants: 26 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed, written off |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 45 km S of Port Hedland, WA - Australia |
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Perth Airport, WA (PER/YPPH) |
| Destination airport: | Port Hedland Airport, WA (PHE/YPPD) |
| Investigating agency: | ASIB |
| Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:
MacRobertson Miller Airlines flight 1750, a Vickers Viscount, crashed following a a failure of the right-hand wing south of Port Hedland, Australia, killing all 26 occupants.
Flight 1750 departed Perth, Australia at 08:36 hours local time on a domestic flight to Port Hedland. The flight climbed to Flight Level 190, encountering light to moderate turbulence. The en route part of the flight was uneventful. At 11:20 hours the flight advised that it would be commencing its descent from FL190 in three minutes. At 11:34 hours the flight reported that it was then 30 miles by Distance Measuring Equipment (DME) south of Port Hedland and had left 7,000 feet on descent. This was the last message received from the aircraft. The aircraft was seen to descend rapidly and steeply a little later. The wreckage was found at 28 miles from Port Hedland.
Investigation showed that at 11:34:12 hours the starboard wing of the aircraft, outboard of Station 143 and including the No. 4 engine installation, separated from the aircraft in flight. Immediately following this failure some components of the starboard wing struck the starboard tailplane and elevator causing the outboard portions of these two components to fail and the tail section and rear fuselage to separate from the aircraft. At the same time fuel released into the air from the ruptured fuel tanks burned momentarily and affected, superficially, some external surfaces of the aircraft.
The gyrations of the aircraft subsequent to the wing failure were violent enough to cause the other three engine installations to separate inflight. The remainder of the aircraft, comprising the cabin, cockpit, port wing and the inboard portion of the starboard wing, struck the ground at 11:34:38 hours.
Investigation further revealed that the starboard inner wing had failed in upward bending at Station 143, where the strength of the lower boom of the main spar had been substantially reduced by fatigue cracking extending over some 85% of its cross-sectional area. It is probable that, at the time of the failure, flight loads close to 1g steady flight loads were being applied to the wing.
CAUSE: "The cause of the accident was that the fatigue endurance of the starboard inner main spar lower boom was substantially reduced by the insertion of a flared bush at station 143 when the margin of safety associated with the retirement life specified for such booms did not ensure that this boom would achieve its retirement life in the presence of such a defect."
