- Date
- June 11, 1992, 13:42 local (18:42 UTC)
- Place
- Bloomington, IL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N302FWMooney M20J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 31, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19920611019559A
- Case key
- 15292
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 aircraft control during the turn from base leg to final approach.
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
The 69 year old pilot returned to the home base airport after a business trip and entered a right hand traffic pattern for runway 3. Witnesses described a very tight, close-in traffic pattern, and stated the accident airplane was lower than the normal traffic pattern (estimated 400 feet above the ground). They stated the nose of the airplane was '...tilting slightly upwards...' And then the airplane entered a steep ('knife-edge') left turn and descended to the ground. The airplane impacted terrain in a residential area southwest of the airport. Post-accident investigation revealed no evidence of pre-impact mechanical malfunction or pilot incapacitation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N302FW
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-1091
- Airframe hours
- 2,069
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Berner, Louis A. Jr.
- Registered owner
- Berner, Louis A. Jr.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 20, 1991 · 185 hours before
- Departed
- UNK · Unknown, IL
- Airport
- BMI · Bloomington, runway 3, 3,720 × 100 ft
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
- 69
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 2,450 total · 250 in this make and model · 2,250 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BMI, 1 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.