Mooney M20C N6581U

Summary

On 10 November 2014 at about 17:58 local time, a Mooney M20C registered N6581U, operated by STONEMAN EXCAVATING Co. INC, was involved in an accident near Lewisburg, West Virginia, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

10 November 2014 at 17:58

Classification

Accident

Location

Lewisburg, West Virginia, United States

Nearest airport

Greenbrier Valley (LWB)

Coordinates

37.8653, -80.3994

Aircraft

Mooney M20C

Registration

N6581U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1962

Engines

1

Operator

STONEMAN EXCAVATING Co. INC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Ferry

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lewisburg → Ashland

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA15FA049

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot's failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angleofattack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall. Contributing to the accident were abnormal engine operation due to improper magneto-to-engine ignition timing and the pilot's failure to have the airplane inspected before the flight as required by the special flight permit.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot/owner purchased the airplane 1 month before the accident flight; the airplane had no associated maintenance logs. The pilot applied for and received a special flight permit to ferry the airplane to a facility where maintenance could be performed with the stipulation that a qualified mechanic inspect the airplane before the flight to ensure that it was safe for flight; however, the pilot failed to have this inspection performed. According to one witness, the taxi, takeoff roll, and initial climb of the accident flight appeared and sounded normal. After reaching about 200 ft above ground level, the airplane leveled off and continued to fly over the runway centerline. Before reaching the end of the runway, the airplane entered a slight left bank, which quickly steepened; the airplane's nose dropped and then returned to a level attitude before it descended out of view. Another witness stated that, about the time that the airplane entered the left bank, it sounded like the engine had lost power but that, shortly thereafter, full engine power appeared to have been restored. A third witness stated that the airplane descended as it oscillated left to right at a relatively steep angle, leveled again, and pitched up and then down just before impact. Postaccident examination of the airframe revealed no evidence of any mechanical anomalies. During examination of the engine, the magneto-to-engine ignition timing was found to be significantly out of specification for both magnetos, which likely resulted in abnormal engine operation during the climb and may account for the observed leveling off of the airplane just after takeoff; however, it could not be determined whether this was due to reduced engine power output or the pilot's response to an observed anomaly. The witnesses' observations of the takeoff and left turn indicated that the pilot may have been maneuvering for a forced landing or returning to the airport. Their observations are also consistent with the pilot failing to maintain adequate airspeed and the airplane exceeding its critical angle-of-attack and experiencing a subsequent aerodynamic stall.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.