Mooney M20C N591BB

Summary

On 28 February 2008 at about 06:07 local time, a Mooney M20C registered N591BB was involved in an accident near Riverside, California, United States. 3 people were on board and 3 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 February 2008 at 06:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Riverside, California, United States

Nearest airport

Riverside Municipal Airport (RAL)

Coordinates

33.9447, -117.4467

Aircraft

Mooney M20C

Registration

N591BB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Riverside → Corona

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

LAX08FA068

3 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed and aircraft control, resulting in an aerodynamic stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot, who had recently purchased a half share of the airplane, and two passengers were on a local area flight and had stopped at the airport for dinner. The accident occurred as the flight was departing to return to their home airport. A witness reported that once airborne the airplane was "porpoising" up and down as it flew towards him. As the airplane neared the end of the runway, he saw it make a steep climbing left turn. The airplane then rolled inverted and descended towards the ground in a near-vertical nose-down attitude. The airplane impacted a palm tree and a vehicle that was parked on the residential street located just south of the airport. After the airplane impacted the ground, the witness saw an explosion and a fire ball. A postcrash fire largely consumed the wreckage. An examination of the engine showed no discrepancies that would have precluded power from being developed prior to impact. There was no evidence of structural, powerplant, or systems failure. All of the airplane's primary structure and flight controls were accounted for at the accident site. Primary flight control system continuity was established. The fuel selector valve was selected on the left tank. Flaps and landing gear were retracted and the tail trim was measured and found to be set for takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.