- Date
- May 11, 2014, 15:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Dowling, MI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N343EDMooney M20F
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 30, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- FAA report
- 20140511024269A
- Case key
- 89200
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
The pilot's failure to maintain control during landing.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported the farm strip was aligned on a heading of approximately 090/270 and was 2,400 feet long. He was approaching from the west. As he cleared the obstacles he noticed he was descending faster than normal. He pulled the throttles to idle to land and was almost on the ground when he felt something like a wind shear. The pilot added power but as he got closer to the ground, the wind pushed the airplane toward the north side of the runway to the edge of the landing strip. As the airplane veered off the strip the wingtip collided with brush and the nose wheel broke. The pilot believed the airplane's wheels were on the ground at the time of the wind shear indicated by skid marks going sideways off the landing strip surface. The pilot obtained weather from WK Kellogg Airport (BTL) in Battle Creek, Michigan while enroute at approximately 1455. Prevailing winds were reported as 230 degrees at 10 knots. BTL reported prevailing winds from 220 degrees at 5 knots at 1753.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported the farm strip was aligned on a heading of approximately 090/270 and was 2,400 feet long. He was approaching from the west. As he cleared the obstacles he noticed he was descending faster than normal. He pulled the throttles to idle to land and was almost on the ground when he felt something like a wind shear. The pilot added power but as he got closer to the ground, the wind pushed the airplane toward the north side of the runway to the edge of the landing strip. As the airplane veered off the strip the wingtip collided with brush and the nose wheel broke. The pilot believed the airplane's wheels were on the ground at the time of the wind shear indicated by skid marks going sideways off the landing strip surface. The pilot obtained weather from WK Kellogg Airport (BTL) in Battle Creek, Michigan while enroute at approximately 1455. Prevailing winds were reported as 230 degrees at 10 knots. BTL reported prevailing winds from 220 degrees at 5 knots at 1753.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N343ED
- Reported as
- Mooney M20F (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 680006
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 2,642
- Engine
- Lycoming I0360 SER, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 2014
- Departed
- I34 · Greensburg, IN
- Destination
- Dowling, MI
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 7, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- Lap only
- Flight hours
- 3,581 total · 3,421 in this make and model · 49 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days · 12 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 54 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Turbulence
- Light
- Observed at
- KBTL, 9 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 17, 2014, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.