Mooney M20J accident near Lopez Island, WA
On August 3, 2018, a Mooney M20J (airplane) was involved in an accident near Lopez Island, WA. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- August 3, 2018
- Place
- Lopez Island, WA
- Aircraft
- Mooney M20J · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 48.491°N, 122.942°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180802X34004
Official records · WPR18FA210
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 2, 2018, about 1705 Pacific daylight time, a Mooney M20J, N56039, was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an approach to Lopez Island Airport (S31), Lopez Island, Washington. The flight instructor and private pilot receiving instruction were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the pilot as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight, which departed Friday Harbor Airport (FHR), Friday Harbor, Washington at an unknown time. According to the instructor's wife, her husband was scheduled to perform a flight review with the accident pilot at 1400, but the flight was delayed until 1500 for unknown reasons. A witness reported that he was departing in an airplane from an airport about 3 nautical miles (nm) west of the accident airplane at the time of the accident. During the witness' initial climb, he heard another pilot announce over the radio that he was on an extended left base for "runway 14" at S31, and stated that the voice sounded unsure or distracted. The witness then made a left turn to an easterly course, where he observed an airplane about 300 ft above ground level and about 0.5 nm north of S31 that appeared to be initiating a turn from the base to final leg of the traffic pattern for runway 16 at S31. The airplane's left turn progressed into a 45° bank that continued to increase until the airplane entered a nose-down dive. He saw the airplane complete one revolution on its roll axis befor
Probable cause
The pilot's exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack while maneuvering for landing, which resulted in a cross-control aerodynamic stall, spin, and impact with terrain. Contributing to the accident was the flight instructor's delayed remedial action in preventing the stall.
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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.
