- Date
- April 28, 1996, 17:00 local (21:00 UTC)
- Place
- Cullowhee, NC
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N5635QMooney M20C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 3, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960428008729A
- Case key
- 38014
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 inadequate compensation for wind conditions. The gusty/crosswind condition was a related factor.
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 said he was on final approach for landing, when the airplane encountered gusty winds, and up/downdrafts. When the airplane was about 100 feet from the threshold, it collided with the terrain after encountering a downdraft.
Factual narrative
On April 28, 1996, about 1700 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20C, N5635Q, registered to a private owner, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, crashed on landing at the Jackson County Airport, Cullowhee, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was destroyed by a postcrash fire. The private pilot and two passengers reported no injuries. The flight originated from Vidalia, Georgia, about 1 hour 30 minutes before the accident.
The pilot stated he called UNICOM and was informed there was no other landing traffic, and the winds favored runway 14. He entered left traffic, completed the before landing check, lowered the flaps to 15 degrees, encountered some downdrafts, and increased power. He turned on base leg decreased airspeed to about 90 mph, lowered flaps to the full down position, turned on final approach, and encountered updrafts and downdrafts while descending to about 35 feet. The airplane was about 100 feet from the end of the runway, when it encountered gusty winds, downdrafts, and a subsequent collision with the ground.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5635Q
- Reported as
- Mooney M20C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 3016
- Airframe hours
- 4,200
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A2B, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gregory E. Olsen
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- VDI · Vidalia, GA
- Destination
- 24A
- Airport
- 24A · Jackson County, runway 14, 1,900 × 50 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
- 57
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 600 total · 500 in this make and model · 600 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 10 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 6,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- AVL, 35 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.