Pilot Debrief

Mooney M20J near Bowie, MD — 2019-09-12

Final reportERA19LA269
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Date
2019-09-12
Location
Bowie, MD, USA
Airport
W00
Aircraft
Mooney M20J
Registration
N202JB
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

A blockage of the pitot static system that preclude the airspeed indicator from displaying speeds greater than 40 mph, which led the pilot to abort the landing and overrun the runway.

NTSB narrative

The pilot performed a preflight inspection of the airplane and noted no anomalies. The pilot initiated the takeoff roll and noted that the airplane’s airspeed never rose above 40 mph. The airplane was about one-third to halfway down the 2,420-ft runway when the pilot elected to abort the takeoff then overran the departure end of the runway. The airplane broke through the airport perimeter fence and struck a car on a highway just off the airport property, which resulted in the left wing separating from the fuselage. Postaccident examination of the airplane was unable to find any anomalies with the airspeed indicator, pitot tube, or pitot static system between the left-wing root and the airspeed indicator that would have precluded normal operation. Due to the wing’s impact damage, investigators were unable to functionally test the portion of the pitot system between the pitot tube and the left-wing root. It is possible that the pitot static system was blocked during the accident flight, preventing the airspeed indicator from displaying airspeeds above 40 mph and leading the pilot to decide to abort the takeoff, then the blockage became dislodged during the accident sequence.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Mechanical failure
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted takeoff earlier when airspeed did not increase.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 2 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents2

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