- Date
- September 14, 1991, 17:25 local (Sep 15, 1991, 00:25 UTC)
- Place
- Kent, WA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3492NMooney M20F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 28, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910914040019A
- Case key
- 41534
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
Failure of the pilot to maintain directional control and proper runway alignment during the landing and go-around (aborted landing). Factors related to the accident were: the pilot's improper flare and improper recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a porpoise.
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 reported that during a landing, the aircraft entered a porpoise and began drifting to the left. He tried to re-align the aircraft with the runway, then initiated a go-around. The aircraft began to climb; however, it continued drifting left, hit trees about 15 ft below the tops and crashed.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3492N
- Reported as
- Mooney M20F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 68-0073
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William E. Claussen
- Registered owner
- William E. Claussen
- Departed
- WA72 · Yelm, WA
- Airport
- S36 · Crest Airpark, runway 33, 3,267 × 40 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
- 44
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 536 total · 323 in this make and model · 438 as pilot in command · 24 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.