• On November 4, 1949, a Harrington's Inc.
DC-3, a cargo flight, crashed at CAK short of runway 36 in light snow and limited visibility, hitting trees and landing inverted east of the runway, killing all 3 occupants. This is the worst crash on airport property in its history. • On November 27, 1973,
Eastern Airlines Flight 300 was arriving from
Pittsburgh International Airport when it ran off the end of the runway. The aircraft was a
McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 with five crew members and 21 passengers, and originated at
Miami International Airport with a routing MIA-PIT-CAK. The weather conditions were low ceilings, light rain showers and fog. The
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that landing at excessive speed too far down the wet runway caused the aircraft to hydroplane and not be able to stop. It went over an embankment and was severely damaged and written off. There were no fatalities, but all 26 on board had various injuries. • On August 2, 1979, a
Cessna Citation 501 piloted by
New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson stalled and crashed short of runway 19, killing Munson. The two other people in the plane with him were able to escape the plane just as it caught fire. • On December 26, 2002, a
Cessna 172S was substantially damaged while landing at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The pilot reported he was landing with a 15 knot crosswind component. The airplane touched down hard and began to bounce. The airplane bounced five or six times before the pilot performed a go-around. During the second landing attempt, the pilot experienced difficulty manipulating the airplane's controls. The airplane landed hard, veered off the left side of the runway, and struck a snow bank. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing. • On July 12, 2003, a
Piper PA-23 was destroyed shortly after takeoff from Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The aircraft was being flown to
Medina Municipal Airport after an annual inspection. Almost immediately after rotation, the aircraft veered left due to a loss of left engine power. The pilot was unable to maintain directional control, and the aircraft contacted the ground with the left wing first, followed by the nose, and came to rest at the approach end of Runway 32. After the investigation, a representative of the salvage company who the aircraft was sold to said the left engine's main bearing was found partially seated on the journal. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain minimum control single engine airspeed (Vmc) during a loss of power on one engine, which resulted in a loss of control in flight an in-flight collision with terrain. • On January 30, 2004, a
Gates Learjet 35A was substantially damaged while taxiing at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. According to the pilot, the taxi from the runway to the ramp area was normal. After making a right 90 degree turn onto the ramp from taxiway "E", the airplane began to slide on top of an ice layer. The brakes were ineffective and the co-pilot shut down the engines; however, due to the downward slope of the ramp area and the wind conditions, the airplane continued to accelerate. The airplane then struck a concrete retaining wall, before it came to rest. The probable cause of the accident was found to be improper ramp maintenance, resulting in a loss of airplane control while taxiing on ice, with contributing factors including high winds and the ramp's downward slope. • On January 19, 2005, a
Cessna 414 was substantially damaged during a hard landing at Akron-Canton Regional Airport. After departure from
Akron Fulton Airport, the aircraft entered clouds and immediately picked up heavy
ice, and the aircraft's deicing systems were activated, though they could not compete with the ice accumulation. The pilot attempted to land back at Fulton but could not because ice was clouding the front window and could not be removed. The pilot then proceeded to Akron-Canton for an
Airport Surveillance Radar approach. When the pilot reduced power in the flare, the aircraft landed hard on all three
landing gear wheels simultaneously. The probable cause of the incident was found to be the pilot's failure to obtain a complete weather briefing, which resulted in an inadequate weather decision, and flight into known icing conditions. A factor was the airplane not being equipped for flight in icing conditions. • On November 14, 2006, a
Mooney M20J impacted the runway during landing at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The pilot reported that the aircraft's flaps did not deploy symmetrically on final; though full flaps had been selected, the left flap did not fully deploy. The pilot attempted to raised the flaps, but they subsequently became jammed asymmetrically. As the pilot rounded out to flare, the left wing stalled and dropped sharply; the pilot attempted to add power to correct, but this caused the aircraft to enter a steep left turn due to the differences in the amount of lift each wing was producing. A post accident examination confirmed flap system continuity. In addition, the flap actuator motor operated when electrical power was applied. Impact damage precluded an exact measurement of the flap deflections and rigging. The probable cause of the accident was found to be the pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed during final approach, resulting in an inadvertent
stall. • On December 19, 2008, a
Piper Saratoga impacted a flagpole and crashed into the lawn of a vacant house while attempting to land at Akron–Canton Airport, killing the pilot. The crash occurred about 2 miles east/northeast of the airport because of
icing conditions,
spatial disorientation, pilot error, and the pilot’s failure to initially intercept and establish the airplane on the proper approach course. • On March 18, 2011, an
Embraer 145 veered off of the left side of the runway while landing at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The crew reported to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector that the flight was uneventful until the nose landing gear touched down on the runway during landing. At that point, the airplane made an uncommanded left turn that the pilots were unable to correct. The airplane veered off the runway pavement before coming to a stop. The captain reported that the approach was normal and that there were no warnings or messages from the airplane's systems prior to touchdown. He said that, during the event, the first officer attempted to manually disengage nosewheel steering using the switch provided on his control wheel, but this action did not prevent the airplane from veering to the side. Postincident examination of the nosewheel steering system did not reveal any anomalies that would have precluded normal operation, and the cause of the accident was found to be the uncommanded left deflection of the airplane's nosewheel for reasons that could not be determined. • On May 10, 2016, a
Mooney Aircraft M20 was substantially damaged by a runway excursion during takeoff at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. The pilot reported the aircraft veered left during the takeoff roll as the it accelerated to takeoff speed. The pilot reduced engine power and applied full right rudder, but the airplane exited the runway and struck airport lighting, where it sustained substantial wing and fuselage damage. It was found a bolt that attaches the nose landing gear retraction link to the nose gear truss assembly was missing from the nose wheel well; wheel steering and the brakes were found to be functioning properly. A representative of Mooney Aircraft Co did not believe the missing bolt would cause the nose wheel to castor into the wind on a takeoff roll, and he indicated that he did not believe it would allow the wheel to castor if the bolt fell out. Regardless, the probable cause of the accident was found to be the missing bolt in the nose landing gear assembly, which resulted in the airplane suddenly turning left and the pilot's inability to maintain directional control during a crosswind takeoff. ==See also==