Mooney M20J N58066

Summary

On 18 July 2020 at about 22:05 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N58066, operated by Unicorn Aviation Inc, was involved in an accident near Block Island, Rhode Island, 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

18 July 2020 at 22:05

Classification

Accident

Location

Block Island, Rhode Island, United States

Nearest airport

Block Island State (BID)

Coordinates

41.1681, -71.5778

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N58066

Category

Airplane

Year built

1985

Engines

1

Operator

Unicorn Aviation Inc

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hartford → Block Island

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA20CA264

Nobody was injured.

A hard landing and subsequent loss of control.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Following an uneventful flight, the pilot was landing the airplane at the destination airport. When the airplane touched down, he “experienced and issue” with the right main landing gear. The airplane then veered off the right-side of the runway. The pilot applied corrective rudder inputs to bring the airplane back toward the runway centerline, but it continued past the centerline and off the left side of the runway. The pilot then applied the brakes but found that there was “no action.” The airplane came to rest off the left side of the runway. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the nose landing gear had sheared from the fuselage and the main landing gear had collapsed. The propeller was damaged, and the lower fuselage was substantially damaged. The right main landing gear trunnion rod was pushed up and through the top of the right wing. Further examination of the right main landing gear revealed the two front support tubes for the landing gear's shock absorbers were both broken at the base where they attach to the shock absorber assembly. The brakes appeared new and no defects were noted. The right tire spun freely and exhibited two flat spots, one of which was through the tire cord, rupturing it. The tire also displayed rubbing and scuffing marks that were off-axis relative to the direction of travel. Skid marks on the runway were consistent with the damage observed on the right main landing gear tire. Given the damage observed to the right main landing gear, it is likely that the pilot landed the airplane hard. The damage to the landing gear likely resulted in the subsequent loss of control and runway excursion.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.