Mooney M20F accident near Copake, NY
On November 11, 2010, a Mooney M20F (airplane) was involved in an accident near Copake, NY. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- November 11, 2010
- Place
- Copake, NY
- Aircraft
- Mooney M20F · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 42.161°N, 73.482°W
- NTSB ID
- 20101113X00616
Official records · ERA11FA055
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
- FSS Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On November 10, 2010, about 1940 eastern standard time, a Mooney M20F, N6878V, was substantially damaged when it collided with wooded terrain, near the summit of Mount Frey, Copake, New York. The certificated private pilot and passenger were killed. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Night visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed for the planned flight to Walter J Koladza Airport (GBR), Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The flight departed Lorain County Regional Airport (LPR), Elyria, Ohio, about 1550. According to data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the flight was in radar and radio contact with Albany terminal radar approach control (TRACON) as the flight approached GBR. At 1921, the pilot advised the controller that he intended to make a visual approach to runway 29 at GBR, which was located 739 feet above mean sea level (msl). At 1927, the controller instructed the pilot to descend from 7,000 msl, to 4,000 feet msl, which the pilot acknowledged. At 1936, the pilot reported that he had GBR in sight and the controller cleared the flight for a visual approach to runway 29 at GBR. At 1937, the controller gave the pilot the option of canceling his IFR clearance on the current radio frequency or with flight service on the ground, and approved a frequency change to the GBR common traffic advisory frequency. The pilot elected to cancel his IFR clearance at that time with the Albany controller. The controller acknowledged t
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to monitor and maintain clearance from mountainous terrain during a visual descent to the destination airport at night, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
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Browse: New York · Mooney aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
