- Date
- April 27, 1989, 06:05 local (11:05 UTC)
- Place
- Jasper, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N201TPMooney M20J
- Weather
- Dawn
- Status
- Completed · report June 10, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890427011109A
- Case key
- 22858
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 misjudgement of his altitude. Factors related to the accident were: light conditions at dawn and ground fog in the area, which resulted in the pilot's lack of visual perception.
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 pilot was aware of patchy fog in the area. He said he was clear of the fog and was flying toward the area of the airport to see if he could see any lights on the airport. He thought the altimeter was reading aprx 1300 ft, when the airplane hit pine trees & crashed. Elevation at the accident site was about 220 ft.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N201TP
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-0304
- Airframe hours
- 1,780
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Stratton, William A.
- Registered owner
- Stratton, William A
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 2, 1988 · 104 hours before
- Departed
- 5TXO · Denton, TX
- Destination
- JAS
- Airport
- JAS · Bell Field
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
- 60
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,600 total · 3,000 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Dawn
- Wind
- 150° at 6 knots
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.