Mooney M20F N6444Q

Summary

On 17 May 1998 at about 00:30 local time, a Mooney M20F registered N6444Q, operated by Geoffrey C. Norris, was involved in an accident near Telluride, Colorado, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 May 1998 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Telluride, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Telluride Regional (TEX)

Coordinates

37.9403, -107.9000

Aircraft

Mooney M20F

Registration

N6444Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Geoffrey C. Norris

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Moscow → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW98LA224

Nobody was injured.

The pilot exceeded the crosswind capability performance of the aircraft, and his delayed response in initiating a go around. Factors were gusty, crosswind and tailwind conditions, and high density altitude.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he contacted the airport for a weather advisory prior to landing and was told that the winds were favoring runway 9. Prior to touchdown, he received a report on the radio that the wind had shifted to 220 degrees at 20 knots with gusts to 25 knots. The airplane touched down and as it was rolling out, the aircraft became airborne. The pilot applied full power and retracted the landing gear. He flew the aircraft approximately half way down the runway at about 20 feet above the ground, hit the ground, bounced once, then landed in a drainage ditch. Calculated density altitude at the time was 11,041 feet above mean sea level, and the angle between the runway and the wind was 130 degrees. Given the reported wind speed of 20 knots with gusts to 25 knots, the crosswind and tailwind component values fall off the wind component chart. The values at the chart limits are 12 knots and 10 knots respectively. According to Mooney Aircraft Flight Test, the demonstrated cross wind component is 13 knots and there is no demonstrated tail wind component. The propeller was destroyed, and the wings and lower fuselage sustained substantial damage.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.