Mooney M20C N78951

Summary

On 2 September 2013 at about 19:40 local time, a Mooney M20C registered N78951, operated by Tivay Alireza, was involved in an accident near Mitchellville, Maryland, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 were seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 September 2013 at 19:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Mitchellville, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Freeway Airport (W00)

Coordinates

38.9414, -76.7722

Aircraft

Mooney M20C

Registration

N78951

Category

Airplane

Year built

1962

Engines

1

Operator

Tivay Alireza

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Mitchellville → Mitchellville

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA13LA391

3 people were seriously injured.

The pilot’s failure to ensure that the wing flaps were properly configured before takeoff.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane departed from the 2,420-foot-long asphalt runway near its maximum gross weight. Review of witness statements and a video revealed that the airplane initially lifted off and climbed out of ground effect; however, it subsequently descended in a nose-up attitude into trees about 250 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the flaps were in the fully extended position and that the flap position indicator was indicating the "down" position (fully extended). No other preimpact anomalies were observed with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. The takeoff checklist indicated that the pilot should pump the hydraulically actuated flap handle twice, which would extend the flaps to a 15-degree takeoff position. If the flap handle were pumped four and one-half times, the flaps would extend to the full-down position. It is likely that the pilot repeated that checklist item twice, which would have placed the flaps at or near the fully extended position. Review of performance data revealed that adequate runway length existed for the airplane to take off if its flaps had been in the takeoff position.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.