Mooney M20J N311SM

Summary

On 7 September 1996 at about 17:59 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N311SM was involved in an accident near Biscoe, Arkansas, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

7 September 1996 at 17:59

Classification

Accident

Location

Biscoe, Arkansas, United States

Coordinates

34.8997, -91.4205

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N311SM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Carlisle → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

FTW96LA381

1 person had minor injuries.

Binding of the flight control system for an undetermined reason.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that the airplane was in cruise flight at 1,500 feet agl when he 'started feeling hard left pushing on the plane.' The airplane 'wanted to drop the left wing,' and the pilot turned the yoke to the right to counteract this tendency. The airplane began to 'pull downward,' and the pilot applied back pressure on the yoke. As the pilot continued to 'apply hard pressure' to the yoke, he heard a 'pop in the dashboard' and 'thought that something had gave way,' so he turned the airplane to the left to head back towards an open area. He partially extended the flaps, lowered the landing gear, and attempted to make an emergency landing on a road, but overshot the road and touched down in a soybean field. During the landing roll, the airplane impacted a row of trees at the edge of the field. Control system continuity from the control surfaces to the cockpit controls was confirmed for the elevator, ailerons, and rudder. All cockpit instrumentation, radio equipment, and the associated tubing and wiring were destroyed by the post-crash fire; therefore, it was not possible to determine if any of these items had interfered with the operation of the flight controls.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.