Mooney M20D N6628U

Summary

On 29 May 2009 at about 17:45 local time, a Mooney M20D registered N6628U, operated by Victor Owens Jr, was involved in an accident near Clintwood, Virginia, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

29 May 2009 at 17:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Clintwood, Virginia, United States

Coordinates

37.2603, -82.3731

Aircraft

Mooney M20D

Registration

N6628U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Victor Owens Jr

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Elizabethton → Ashland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA09FA311

1 person died.

The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses in the local area reported that they watched the airplane descend in a circle to get beneath clouds before continuing in its original direction. The airplane subsequently passed in and out of clouds before disappearing from sight. Another witness observed the airplane flying in a northerly direction toward a mountain ridge. The airplane then flew into a fog bank at the top of the mountain, and there was the sound of a crash. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal mechanical or flight control anomalies that may have contributed to the accident. The pilot had been under substantial stress in the months leading up to the accident, and had been complaining of symptoms of shoulder pain 1 month prior to the accident. He had been diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disorder, approximately 2 years prior to the accident, but was apparently in complete remission from the disease. It is unlikely that the myasthenia gravis was related to the accident, although the pilot may have been distracted by symptoms of stress or back pain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.