Mooney M-20F N9596M

Summary

On 27 December 2006 at about 19:26 local time, a Mooney M-20F registered N9596M was involved in an accident near Mt. Gilead, Ohio, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

27 December 2006 at 19:26

Classification

Accident

Location

Mt. Gilead, Ohio, United States

Coordinates

40.5064, -84.7858

Aircraft

Mooney M-20F

Registration

N9596M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mt. Vernon → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CHI07FA048

2 people died.

Both the pilot-in-command/aircraft owner and the flight instructor failed to recover from the stall and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight. Contributing to the accident was the failure to maintain stall speed which resulted in the subsequent stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was for the PIC/aircraft owner to receive familarization training from a certified flight instructor (CFI) in his newly purchased airplane. The PIC was a recently retired airline pilot and had not flown general aviation airplanes for a number of years. Witnesses reported hearing the aircraft engine and seeing the airplane descending straight into the trees. One witness reported the airplane went "straight up or tried to" prior to descending. Another witness reported seeing the airplane "twist" a little prior to it descending. The accident site was in a heavily wooded area which was surrounded by open fields. The airplane impacted the terrain in a nose down attitude and the only trees observed to have been damaged were those immediately surrounding the impact site. The landing gear and flaps were observed in the extended position. Inspection of the airplane and engine failed to reveal any mechanical failure/malfunction which would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. Radar data indicated that during the last 26 minutes of the flight, the airplane had been maneuvering with changes in heading, altitude, and groundspeed indicative of stalls and/or slow flight. The groundspeed, based on the radar data, varied from 164 knots to 39 knots. Just prior to the loss of radar contact, the ground speed based on the radar data was approximately 54 knots. According to the aircraft manufacturer the aircraft stall speeds, at a gross weight of 2,740 pounds, with flaps retracted is 68 miles per hour (mph) or 59 knots. With flaps set at 15 degrees the stall speed is 64 mph or 55 knots, and with flaps fully extended the stall speed is 62 mph or 54 knots. The speeds provided do not take into consideration the position of the landing gear.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.