Mooney M-20C N6807N

Summary

On 7 January 2001 at about 20:12 local time, a Mooney M-20C registered N6807N was involved in an accident near Jacksonville, Florida, United States. 2 people were 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

7 January 2001 at 20:12

Classification

Accident

Location

Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Jacksonville International (JAX)

Coordinates

30.4936, -81.6908

Aircraft

Mooney M-20C

Registration

N6807N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Jacksonville → Jacksonville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

MIA01LA057

Nobody was injured.

The failure of maintenance personnel to properly reconnect the aircraft's elevator control system, resulting in an in-flight disconnection of the elevator control and jamming of the rudder control during climb, the subsequent in-flight loss of control, and terrain collision following an emergency descent and landing.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, following power application after his first touch and go landing, the aircraft assumed an extremely nose high attitude, and he realized he had no pitch control, limited rudder control, and full aileron control. He was able to control pitch attitude with throttle setting, and conducted an emergency landing in a field adjacent to the airport, sustaining substantial damage. Postcrash examination revealed a disconnect in the pitch controls at the aft pitch control rod-end-to-bellcrank connection in the tailcone. Examination of the components revealed that the pitch control rod-end eye was missed when the connecting bolt was pushed through the bellcrank side plate holes. When the nut was fitted to the bolt and tightened, the result was a connection that was only a "squeezed", friction fit. About 12 flight hours before the accident, on October 24, 2000, the aircraft underwent a 100-hour inspection, at which time the following was entered in the logbook, "Checked all control push rods and rod end bearings. Lubricated Flight Controls". On April 24, 1980, Mooney Aircraft Corporation recognized a potential for a misconnection between the rod end and the bellcrank and promulgated Service Instruction M20-44, which had not been accomplished on this aircraft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.