Mooney Aircraft Corp. M20 accident near Chuckanut, WA
On February 13, 2018, a Mooney Aircraft Corp. M20 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Chuckanut, WA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- February 13, 2018
- Place
- Chuckanut, WA
- Aircraft
- Mooney Aircraft Corp. M20 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 48.655°N, 122.465°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180213X20952
Official records · ANC18FA024
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Radio Communications Transcript: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 12, 2018, about 1913 Pacific standard time, a Mooney M20K airplane, N123JN, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Chuckanut, Washington. The private pilot sustained fatal injuries. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The co-owner of the airplane stated that the purpose of the flight was to re-position the airplane from Harvey Field (S43), Snohomish, Washington, to Bellingham International Airport (BLI), Bellingham, Washington, for maintenance. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed that the flight departed S43 at 1851 and climbed to 4,300 ft mean sea level (msl) on a north-northwesterly course. About 1907, the airplane began a slow descent at 275 ft per minute (fpm). At 1911, the pilot contacted the BLI air traffic control tower and reported his position 14 miles south of the airport and requested a straight-in approach. The tower controller issued a clearance for a visual approach to runway 34 and instructed the pilot to report 3 miles from the airport. There were no further radio communications from the pilot. Flight track data indicated a gradual increase in the descent rate to about 700 fpm at the last recorded position. During the last 2 minutes of the flight, the airplane's groundspeed slowed from 153 to 146 knots. The airplane's last recorded position was at 1913:08, about 9 miles south-southeast of the airport near the accident site and on a northwesterly course at an altitude of 1,975 ft msl
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain during a visual approach in dark night visual meteorological conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.
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Browse: Washington · 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.
