Mooney M-20R N2HW

Summary

On 19 July 2001 at about 22:30 local time, a Mooney M-20R registered N2HW was involved in an accident near Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 July 2001 at 22:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Eden Prairie, Minnesota, United States

Nearest airport

Flying Cloud Airport (FCM)

Coordinates

44.8233, -93.4914

Aircraft

Mooney M-20R

Registration

N2HW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Eden Prairie → Aberdeen

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI01FA220

1 person died.

The fractured camshaft gear and the pilot not maintaining aircraft control. Factors relating to this accident were metal fatigue in the camshaft gear teeth, the inadvertent stall, the low airspeed, and the trees.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was observed proceeding westbound from the airport at a low altitude. A witness said, "I watched and listened thinking he would soon apply power and climb. The engine noise was smooth sounding but low. The plane was not gaining altitude and slowly losing altitude." The witness said the airplane flew parallel to, and north of the road in front of her house. "As it crossed the point of my driveway, the plane banked slightly, hit the tree tops and crashed and exploded." Control tower communications revealed that shortly after being instructed to contact departure control, the pilot responded, "two hotel whiskey - engine failure". An examination of airframe records showed that a new engine was installed at the annual inspection on February 5, 2001. The airplane logged approximately 75.7 hours from the time of the annual inspection to the time of the accident. An examination of the airplane's engine revealed that three teeth from the camshaft gear were fractured. An additional eight teeth were crushed, in total rendering the camshaft unable to be driven. A Materials Laboratory examination of the camshaft gear and fractured gear teeth showed two of the three teeth indicating signs of fatigue. The third tooth showed evidence of overstress. Rockwell hardness measurements made on the gear portion of the camshaft gear showed an average hardness of Rockwell 64HR30-N. Specification drawings for the camshaft gear indicated that the gear teeth should be hardened by gas-nitride process to a hardness of Rockwell 69HR30-N, minimum.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.