MIA02LA125

NTSB accident investigation · Mooney M20R · Mt. Pleasant, SC · July 2, 2002

Accident · No injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
July 2, 2002, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
Place
Mt. Pleasant, SC
Injuries
1 uninjured
Damage
Substantial damage
Phase of flight
Approach
Aircraft
N2043NMooney M20R
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report August 28, 2002
Report
Approved by Office Director
Parties
FAA FSDO
FAA report
20020702019749A
Case key
55126

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed resulting in a stall, an uncontrolled descent, and an impact with the ground during the attempted go-around.

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.

Loss of control - in flightGo-around (vfr)
Go-around - initiatedPilot in command
Airspeed - not maintainedPilot in commandCause
Stall - inadvertentPilot in command
In flight collision with terrain/waterDescent - uncontrolled
Terrain condition - ground

Analysis

The pilot stated that the approach was a little fast and the airplane touched down about a third of the way down the runway. He said it bounced once, and he pulled back on yoke, expecting it to settle to the runway, but it bounced again, and the nose was high, so he added power to affect a go-around, but the airplane did not climb as expected. He said he activated the flap control, intending to raise them just a notch, but accidentally raised the flaps all the way, and the airplane yawed to the left and descended, impacting the ground. According to the pilot, there were no preaccident failures or malfunctions to the airplane or any of its systems.

Factual narrative

On July 2, 2002, about 1430, eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20R, N2043N, registered to Clark Chemical Inc., and operated by a private individual, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed while the pilot was attempting a go-around at East Cooper Airport, Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed. The airplane incurred substantial damage, and the private-rated pilot, the sole occupant, received no injuries. The flight originated from McCollum Field, Marietta, Georgia, the same day, about 1300.

The pilot stated that it had been a routine flight all the way to short final, but the approach speed was a little fast, and the airplane touched down about a third of the way down the runway. He said it bounced once, and he pulled back on yoke, expecting it to settle to the runway, but it bounced again. He said the nose was high so he added power to affect a go-around, but the airplane did not climb as he expected. He said he activated the flap control, intending to raise them just a notch, but accidentally raised the flaps all the way, and the airplane yawed to the left and descended, impacting the ground. The pilot further stated that the airplane incurred damage to its wings, fuselage, propeller, and landing gear, and that there had been no preaccident mechanical failure or malfunction to the airframe, flight controls or engine.

According to a witness, the accident airplane approached for a landing, and it struck the runway in a "nose wheel-first attitude," and subsequently porpoised three or four times. The witness stated that after the last bounce, it appeared that the pilot applied full power, while he maintained a nose-high attitude, about 50 feet above the runway. He said the airplane then banked 90 degrees to the left, descended, and impacted the ground in a nose-low attitude, with either its propeller or left wing before "cart wheeling" and coming to rest in a field to the left of the departure end of the runway.

Aircraft

Registration
N2043N
Reported as
Mooney M20R
Category
Airplane
Serial number
29-0104
Airframe hours
875
Engine
Teledyne Continental IO-550G-6B, 280 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Substantial damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Registered owner
Clark Chemical Inc.
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Last inspection
Annual · August 31, 2001 · 43 hours before
Departed
RYY · Marietta, GA
Destination
8S5 · Mt. Pleasant, SC
Flight plan
IFR
Airport
8S5 · East Cooper, runway 17, 3,700 × 75 ft, asphalt

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
55
Injuries
None
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Instrument ratings
Airplane
Medical
Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
Last flight review
February 11, 2002
Seat
Left
Flight hours
2,185 total · 875 in this make and model · 2,100 as pilot in command · 35 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
70° at 5 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
88 °F, dew point 72 °F
Altimeter
30.07 inHg
Observed at
CHS, 13 nm away

Docket · 3

The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 7, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 490 KB 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.