Mooney M20M N91514

Summary

On 3 May 2004 at about 19:20 local time, a Mooney M20M registered N91514, operated by Jerome Forrest Kurtz, was involved in an accident near Cary, North Carolina, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 May 2004 at 19:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Cary, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Raleigh-Durham International (RDU)

Coordinates

34.7714, -78.8144

Aircraft

Mooney M20M

Registration

N91514

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Jerome Forrest Kurtz

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Columbia → Raleigh/Durham

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL04FA107

2 people died.

The pilot experienced spatial disorientation, which resulted in a loss of control and the subsequent collision with trees. Factors were low ceilings and fog.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

Upon arriving at the destination airport, the flight was cleared for the ILS runway 5L approach. Since the pilot was not familiar with the destination airport, the pilot requested and was given radar vectors. Approach control informed the pilot when established on the localizer he was cleared for the ILS runway 5L approach. After multiple attempts to land at the Raleigh-Durham Airport, approach control provided the pilot with visual flight rules alternatives to the Greensboro and Winston-Salem Airports. The pilot requested to attempt another approach, and on the final attempt approach control lost radio and radar contact with the airplane. At 1545 the Wake County rescue located the downed airplane approximately 5-miles south of the Raleigh-Durham Airport in a small lake in an apartment complex. The debris from the airplane sank in the water on the northwest side of the lake in approximately 8 feet of water. Witnesses at the crash site reported seeing the airplane come in at a shallow angle turned sideways. The airplane collided with trees and then the lake. Examination of the wreckage site revealed freshly broken trees at the beginning of the wreckage path. Approximately 300 feet from the first broken tree there was another tree with freshly broken branches, and a ground scar along the shoreline of a small lake. Examination of the inboard left wing assembly revealed it was separated from at the mid-section of the wing and crush damaged. The post- accident examination of the airframe and the engine assembly did not reveal any flight control anomalies.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.