Mooney M20R N88FJ

Summary

On 4 February 2001 at about 18:18 local time, a Mooney M20R registered N88FJ was involved in an accident near Bluffton, South Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 February 2001 at 18:18

Classification

Accident

Location

Bluffton, South Carolina, United States

Coordinates

32.2967, -80.9367

Aircraft

Mooney M20R

Registration

N88FJ

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Savannah → Lumberton

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

MIA01FA071

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control due to spatial disorientation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The instrument-rated pilot obtained a weather brief which indicated instrument meteorological flight conditions, with cloud bases near 600 feet, and tops above 10,000 feet. Flight visibility was 0 miles in the clouds, and near 4 miles in mist below the lowest cloud base. An AIRMET for IFR conditions had been in effect for the area of the accident site. The pilot departed Savannah, Georgia during daylight hours, and about 8 minutes into the flight after he had acknowledged an Air Traffic Controller's instruction to fly heading of 080 degrees, and to maintain an altitude of 3,000 feet, the airplane was observed to turn to the left, followed by in a descending turn to the right. The airplane was last observed at 1318:38, at an altitude of 1,700 feet. It collided with high voltage utility wires, and impacted the ground spreading burning debris over a large area. A witness who was outside her house on her porch said she saw the accident airplane in a descent with one wing low as if in a turn, and it disappeared behind trees, exploding on impact. She stated that the engine sounded as if it was operating normally prior to the impact. Postcrash examination of the aircraft did not reveal any evidence of any preaccident failure or malfunction to the airframe, the flight controls, or the engine.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.