Mooney M20F N6474Q

Summary

On 22 July 2021 at about 02:10 local time, a Mooney M20F registered N6474Q was involved in an accident near New Albany, Mississippi, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

22 July 2021 at 02:10

Classification

Accident

Location

New Albany, Mississippi, United States

Nearest airport

New Albany / Union County Airp (M72)

Coordinates

34.5560, -89.0253

Aircraft

Mooney M20F

Registration

N6474Q

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

London → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

CEN21LA373

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s delayed decision to abort the landing that resulted in a collision with a fence post. Contributing to the accident was the failure of the alternator drive belt during cruise flight for unknown reasons and the subsequent inoperative electrical system when the airplane’s battery became depleted.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that airplane’s electrical charging system malfunctioned during cruise flight in night visual meteorological conditions. He reduced the airplane’s electrical load by pulling the circuit breakers for everything besides the transponder. The pilot continued to the intended destination and manually extended the landing gear to conserve battery power; however, while in the traffic pattern, there was insufficient battery power remaining to turn-on the runway lights using the airplane’s radio. The pilot completed a low pass over the runway before deciding to go-around and reenter the traffic pattern and land. During the first landing, the airplane landed hard and bounced several times before the pilot increased engine power and aborted the landing. On the second landing, the airplane bounced 3 times before it settled onto the runway. The pilot applied brakes briefly before he increased engine power for another aborted landing because he saw the departure end of the runway approaching. The airplane’s left wing was substantially damaged when it impacted a fence post during the aborted landing. The pilot suggested that the accident could have been prevented had he used his available mobile phone to call the airport manager to turn on the runway lights, or if he had a hand-held radio to use after the battery became depleted. The alternator drive belt was not located after the accident and is believed to have separated from the airplane earlier in the flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.