# NTSB MIA02LA125: Mooney M20R, N2043N, Mt. Pleasant, SC, July 2, 2002 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: July 2, 2002, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC) - Place: Mt. Pleasant, SC - Coordinates: 32.897777, -79.782775 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.8978&lon=-79.7828&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Approach](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/500) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 1 uninjured - Status: Completed, report August 28, 2002 - Report: Approved by Office Director - Parties: FAA FSDO - NTSB case key (mKey): 55126 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=MIA02LA125 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/55126/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55126 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/MIA02LA125 ## 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 In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Loss of control - in flight, go-around (vfr) - go-around - initiated, pilot in command - airspeed - not maintained, pilot in command (cause) - stall - inadvertent, pilot in command - In flight collision with terrain/water, descent - 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](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N2043N-2009-09-22), registration cancelled 2009-09-22, S/N 29-0104, built 1997 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Mooney M20R - Registry model: [Mooney M20R](https://openairdocs.org/model/mooney-m20r) (registry code 5870225) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-550 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-550-series) (registry code 17042, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 29-0104 - Airframe hours: 875 - Engines: 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 ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 55; injuries: none; 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 ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20020702019749A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020702019749A), Jul 2, 2002: Mooney M20R, Mt Pleasant, SC, No damage. (-23) The pilot stated that the aircraft porpoised during landing. He attempted to go-around, lost control, and impacted the ground. (.19) on July 2, 2002,… ## Docket (3 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 7, 2002, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=55126. 490 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 303 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40460419&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF - Witness Statement 1 (item 2, .PDF, 83 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40460420&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witness%20Statement%201-Redacted.PDF - Witness Statement 2 (item 3, .PDF, 104 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40460421&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Witness%20Statement%202-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.