Mooney M20J N201AM

Summary

On 11 August 2004 at about 14:45 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201AM was involved in an accident near Huntington, Indiana, 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

11 August 2004 at 14:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Huntington, Indiana, United States

Nearest airport

Huntington Municipal Airport (HHG)

Coordinates

40.8807, -85.5002

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201AM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Huntington → Huntington

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI04CA222

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate flare and unsuccessful recovery from a bounced landing, and the pilot's and flight instructor's failure to maintain directional control and airspeed during the subsequent aborted landing, which resulted in a stall. A factor was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an aborted landing. The purpose of the flight was to satisfy the dual-instruction flight requirements of a biennial flight review. The flight was being operated in visual meteorological conditions with reported local surface winds of 250 degrees at 11 knots. The pilot performed a simulated forced landing to runway 27 (5,001 feet by 75 feet, dry asphalt) and during the landing flare the airplane "experienced a slight balloon." The flight instructor stated that "the aircraft's stall horn sounded, [and the airplane] began to sink back to the runway as full [engine] power was applied and takeoff flaps were verified." The airplane then proceeded to drift and contact the right (north) edge of the runway. The pilot stated that the increase engine torque caused the airplane's heading to change from the west-northwest to the southwest. The pilot reported the airplane experienced a "slight bounce... touching again briefly on the south [left] edge of the runway." The pilot then established a climb to treetop level, while traveling on a southwesterly heading. Upon reaching treetop altitude the airplane began an unintentional descent resulting in a collision with the terrain about 50 feet south of the runway while on a northerly heading. The pilot and his flight instructor reported that they encountered "wind shear" during the aborted landing, which resulted in the collision with the terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.