Pilot Debrief

Mooney M20R near Lake In The Hills, IL — 2011-06-04

Final reportCEN11LA373
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Date
2011-06-04
Location
Lake In The Hills, IL, USA
Airport
3CK
Aircraft
Mooney M20R
Registration
N5816P
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Landing

Probable cause

The pilot's improper landing flare and recovery from a bounced landing, which resulted in a loss of control. Contributing to the accident was the certified flight instructor’s inadequate supervision.

NTSB narrative

**This report was modified on July 29, 2013. Please see the docket for this accident to view the original report.** The pilot had recently purchased the airplane and was receiving flight instruction to become more comfortable operating it. The accident occurred as the pilot performed a simulated forced landing at the end of an instructional flight. The pilot began the landing flare above the region of ground effect and unintentionally induced an aerodynamic stall after his abrupt aft control yoke input. He increased engine power in response to the stall condition, but the airplane landed hard on the main landing gear in a nose-high attitude. The airplane subsequently bounced and began to veer to the left. The pilot and flight instructor were unsuccessful in regaining control. The airplane departed the runway and went down an embankment into a construction site. The fuselage, firewall, and both wings were substantially damaged during the event. A postaccident examination did not reveal any preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have avoided the hard landing by maintaining control during the flare.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 14 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents14

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