Mooney M20J N201EN

Summary

On 20 October 2008 at about 20:15 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201EN was involved in an accident near Avalon, California, United States. 4 people were on board and 3 died, one was seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

20 October 2008 at 20:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Avalon, California, United States

Nearest airport

Catalina Airport (AVX)

Coordinates

33.4014, -118.4219

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201EN

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Avalon → Corona

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR09FA019

3 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during takeoff for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff while sufficient runway remained to stop.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane was taking off from an airport on top of a mountain, at 1,602 feet mean sea level, on a runway surrounded on three sides by cliff-like precipitous drop-offs. Shortly after liftoff the airplane began to wobble and perform in an unstable manner, making contact again with the runway at about 2/3 of its length. The airplane then veered left off the runway, traveling through a gravel infield area in a nose-high attitude with the main landing gear still on the ground. The airplane continued through the gravel before veering back onto the runway surface just before the pavement ended and the terrain dropped away steeply at the departure end. The airplane descended into the valley and collided with downward sloping terrain. The airplane was destroyed by postimpact fire. The uphill slope of the first 2/3 of the runway made it appear much shorter than it actually was. No obvious preimpact anomalies were noted with the airframe. The engine intake valve cam lobes exhibited wear that could have resulted in a reduction of engine power, but this reduction would have occurred progressively over an extended period of time prior to the accident. It was unclear whether a reduction in engine power could have significantly affected the airplane's performance. The gross weight could not be determined with certainty; however, the airplane was loaded on the inbound trip with the same amount of passengers and baggage as the accident flight, and fueling facilities did not exist at the accident airport. The autopsy results were consistent with a cardiac event suffered by the pilot at some point around the time of the accident, but the pilot had not reported any symptoms and was actively controlling the aircraft and speaking with the surviving passenger during the accident sequence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.