- Date
- April 29, 1992, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Adamstown, MD
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3357XMooney M20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 9, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920429012269A
- Case key
- 11722
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
During flight in the area of sugar loaf mountain, the airplane entered a steep descent and crashed. A witness saw an airplane dive toward the ground, but it went out of his view behind the mountain. He did not hear a crash and assumed the airplane had recovered from the dive. Later in the day, the pilot's wife reported the airplane was overdue. About 24 hours later, the airplane wreckage was found in a wooded area on the east slope of the mountain. The airplane had impacted the east slope at about a 70 deg angle. No preimpact part failure was found during the investigation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3357X
- Reported as
- Mooney M20E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1080
- Airframe hours
- 1,535
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stephen P. Mueller
- Registered owner
- Stephen P. Mueller
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 20, 1991 · 85 hours before
- Departed
- GAI · Gaithersburg, MD
- Destination
- Adamstown, MD
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 50
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,092 total · 122 in this make and model · 1,006 as pilot in command · 3 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FDK, 15 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.