Mooney 231 N75PW

Summary

On 4 September 2009 at about 00:10 local time, a Mooney 231 registered N75PW, operated by Philip M. Walker, was involved in an accident near Charlottesville, Virginia, 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

4 September 2009 at 00:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Charlottesville-Albermarle (CHO)

Coordinates

38.1386, -78.4528

Aircraft

Mooney 231

Registration

N75PW

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Philip M. Walker

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Baltimore → Charlottesville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ERA09CA508

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and lack of familiarity with the airport diagram, which resulted in a runway excursion onto a grassy area.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot performed a successful landing during night visual conditions, about 30 minutes after sunset at the destination airport. He taxied off the runway onto a perpendicular taxiway, and was instructed by the ground controller to "taxi to the ramp." The pilot stated that he was "unable to make out any features on the ground," due to the darkness. He observed the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) directly in front of him and proceeded straight ahead, not realizing there was a strip of grass separating the taxiway and the FBO. The airplane exited the taxiway and continued down a grassy slope between the ramp and taxiway. During the excursion from the taxiway, the propeller and the tail of the airplane struck the ground, resulting in substantial damage. The pilot did not report any mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. He stated that the accident could have been prevented if he had studied the airport diagram and identified the grassy area.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.