Aurora State Airport: Aurora, Oregon

Find Aurora Airport Services and Amenities:  Artex Aircraft Supplies, Inc.; Aurora Aviation; Aurora Jet Center; Columbiar Helicopters; Pacific Coast Avionics; Willamette Aviation Service, LLC.; Self Service 100LL is available 24 hrs.

Special Events & Attractions: Aurora Colony historic landmark; antiques; Ox Barn Museum; Flight training and helicopter operations.

The pilot reported that he was maneuvering the amateur-built airplane at "slow airspeed, low altitude" in a river valley. He further reported that the left wing stalled during a left turn. The airplane descended, impacted willow trees, and came to rest on a gravel bar. The fuselage, both wings and the empennage sustained structural damage. (Saint Paul)

The pilot departed on a test flight for a propeller installation. The pilot said that during the flight, a malfunction occurred and "the propeller was free-wheeling." The pilot force-landed the airplane in soft, muddy terrain and the airplane sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not provide any information regarding the circumstances of the propeller failure following the accident and the reason for the malfunction was not determined.
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The airplane departed the airport some time after 0500 and never returned. An extensive 10-day search was conducted by the Civil Air Patrol. The airplane was not located.
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In a written statement, the pilot reported that he was returning to Vancouver, Washington, after a go-around at Albany, Oregon, due to a "problem with flaps." The pilot changed his mind en route, and decided to land at Aurora, Oregon, because of the longer and wider runway. The pilot chose to land on runway 17, with the ASOS reporting winds from 240 degrees at 6 knots. The pilot flew a normal approach and "felt good." The airplane bounced on landing and the pilot "gave it some gas to smooth [the] touchdown and then pulled [the] throttle back." The airplane contacted the ground again and bounced even higher. The pilot couldn't remember exactly what happened next, but supposed "we caught a gust of wind which lifted us out of ground effect." The airplane "dropped hard" from the second bounce, resulting in a bent firewall and the propeller striking the runway. After rollout, the pilot taxied the airplane off of the runway to the parking area. In the 15
minutes following the accident, the ASOS reported no wind gusts.
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At the conclusion of a local orientation flight the aircraft was taxiing from the active runway to a hangar facility adjacent to the taxiway when a collision occurred between the aircraft and a moving vehicle on a taxi lane. The aircraft was on a privately owned taxi lane utilized by taxiing aircraft and ground vehicles. Both vehicles were moving at the time of the collision. The general aviation airport does not have an operating air traffic control tower.
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The student pilot was trying to land in a 12 knot crosswind when he failed to flare soon enough to ensure a normal touchdown. Therefore, the aircraft landed hard, bounced back into the air, and then came down on the nose gear and the right main landing gear. The force of the landing was sufficient to result in substantial damage to the aircraft's firewall.
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The pilot said that he was taking a pilot certificated passenger for a sales-demonstration ride. He said that the passenger flew most of the flight to get used to the flight characteristics of the airplane. According to the pilot, on their final landing the passenger got the airplane into a high rate of descent on final. He (the pilot) took control of the airplane, added power for a go-around, but impacted the runway hard, bouncing back into the air. He continued the go-around. The pilot said that he noticed the upper wing skin, at a splice, had popped some rivets and was sticking up a few inches near the leading edge. About the same time, a witness on the ground radioed them saying that their left main landing gear appeared to be damaged. During the final landing sequence, the airplane veered off the left side of the runway, and subsequently folded the right main landing gear under the airplane. Post accident examination of the airplane revealed that the
left aileron, upper left wing and both main wheel wells were bent or wrinkled.