Mooney M20K N928MB

Summary

On 29 May 2005 at about 15:30 local time, a Mooney M20K registered N928MB was involved in an accident near Englewood, 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

29 May 2005 at 15:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Englewood, Colorado, United States

Nearest airport

Centennial Airport (APA)

Coordinates

39.5700, -104.8492

Aircraft

Mooney M20K

Registration

N928MB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Englewood → Camarillo

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN05LA139

Nobody was injured.

the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane and the pilot's improper use of unusual attitude recovery procedure. Contributing factors were the failure of the HSI and the clouds.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

According to the pilot, he was in instrument meteorological conditions and climbing to his cruise altitude when the horizontal situation indicator (HSI) failed. He became disoriented, the airplane got into an unusual attitude, and he lost control of the airplane. When the airplane broke out of the clouds, it was descending rapidly, and he pulled back hard on the control yoke to arrest the descent. During the recovery, the airplane's structural limitations were exceeded and the airplane was overstressed. According to a telephone interview with a mechanic who replaced the HSI at Duncan Aviation, a repair shop located at APA, a plastic gear in the HSI was "stripped" and the heading bug caused the compass card to "hang-up."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.