Mooney M20F N2926M

Summary

On 2 August 2013 at about 15:40 local time, a Mooney M20F registered N2926M was involved in an accident near Helena, Montana, 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

2 August 2013 at 15:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Helena, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Helena Regional Airport (HLN)

Coordinates

46.6067, -111.9825

Aircraft

Mooney M20F

Registration

N2926M

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Helena → Helena

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13CA355

Nobody was injured.

The flight instructor's  delayed decision to instruct the pilot to abort the landing which resulted in  a runway excursion and collision with a fence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The  flight instructor reported that the purpose of the flight was for the pilot-undergoing instruction  to perform touch-and-go practice takeoffs and landings. During the approach, the airplane was slightly fast and touched down about halfway down the runway. The instructor thought the pilot could still successfully complete a takeoff and monitored him as he retracted the flaps. As the airplane continued down the runway, the instructor decided that the airplane’s climb performance would not be sufficient to clear obstacles at the end of the runway and he opted to abort the takeoff. The instructor retarded the throttle lever to the closed position and told the pilot to apply maximum braking pressure. The airplane subsequently went off the end of runway into a grass field and continued about 100 feet before impacting a chain-link fence. During the accident sequence, the wing spar was substantially damaged. The airplane’s brake pedals were only accessible to the left-seated person, which is where the pilot was positioned. The instructor reported no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. He additionally stated that this accident could have been prevented by making a timely decision to go-around when it was apparent that the airplane was going to touchdown further down the runway.            

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.