Mooney M20J N202JB

Summary

On 12 September 2019 at about 15:20 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N202JB was involved in an accident near Bowie, Maryland, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

12 September 2019 at 15:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Bowie, Maryland, United States

Nearest airport

Freeway (W00)

Coordinates

38.9450, -76.7733

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N202JB

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Bowie → Charleston

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA19LA269

2 people had minor injuries.

A blockage of the pitot static system that preclude the airspeed indicator from displaying speeds greater than 40 mph, which led the pilot to abort the landing and overrun the runway.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and noted no anomalies. The pilot initiated the takeoff roll and noted that the airplane’s airspeed never rose above 40 mph. The airplane was about one-third to halfway down the 2,420-ft runway when the pilot elected to abort the takeoff then overran the departure end of the runway. The airplane broke through the airport perimeter fence and struck a car on a highway just off the airport property, which resulted in the left wing separating from the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane was unable to find any anomalies with the airspeed indicator, pitot tube, or pitot static system between the left-wing root and the airspeed indicator that would have precluded normal operation. Due to the wing’s impact damage, investigators were unable to functionally test the portion of the pitot system between the pitot tube and the left-wing root. It is possible that the pitot static system was blocked during the accident flight, preventing the airspeed indicator from displaying airspeeds above 40 mph and leading the pilot to decide to abort the takeoff, then the blockage became dislodged during the accident sequence.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.