N6467QMooney M20F · 1967

On July 19, 2014, about 1040 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20F, N6467Q, was destroyed when it impacted terrain in North Elba, New York. The private pilot and two passengers were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The airplane was not operating on flight plan, from Potsdam Municipal Airport (PTD), Potsdam, New York, to Lake Placid Airport (LKP), Lake Placid, New York. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

New York State Police (NYSP) interviews revealed that, on July 17, 2014, the pilot and his girlfriend departed their home airport in Parkersburg, West Virginia, spending the night in Nantucket, Massachusetts. They then arrived at PTD on the afternoon of July 18, 2014, intending to spend the next two nights visiting his daughter who was attending a local university. The pilot and his daughter decided to fly the next day, with the daughter bringing a friend from school. After dinner, the pilot familiarized himself online with the area, and the day of the accident left the hotel about 0900, with his daughter and her friend, expecting to return between 1400 and 1500.

According to a commercial (scenic flight) pilot at LKP, he was outside the administration building when he heard a radio transmission over the loud speaker, with the pilot identifying himself as "Mooney" and the last three identifiers of his airplane. The Mooney pilot was requesting an airport "advisory, which is normal procedure." The commercial pilot went inside and advised the Mooney pilot that "the winds were calm and no other reported traffic." The Mooney pilot responded and said that he was inbound for landing on runway 14.

The commercial pilot went back outside and later overheard the Mooney pilot on the loud speaker saying he was seeing another airplane. The Mooney pilot was trying to talk to the other airplane, which the commercial pilot had not yet seen. Shortly after that, the commercial pilot saw the other airplane, which he knew to be locally-based, approach the airport passing overhead from northwest to southeast, and entering left traffic to land on runway 32. He then saw the Mooney approaching the airport from the northwest.

About 5 minutes later, the commercial pilot heard over the loud speaker, "Lake Placid, Mooney, two mile final or short final runway one four." At the time, the commercial pilot had his back to the runway, but turned around after hearing the Mooney engine go to full power. He then saw the airplane pitching up at a steep angle while banking right at a steep angle, and it appeared as though the right wing may have struck the runway. The commercial pilot continued to watch the Mooney, and "saw that the pilot appeared to have recovered the aircraft. He started a shallow turn to the right and started to climb along the right side of the runway."

As the Mooney continued to climb, the commercial pilot saw the local airplane about 100 to 200 feet over the trees, approaching from the opposite direction to land on runway 32. "They looked as though they saw each other and started to each climb to their right sides of the [runway]." The commercial pilot then heard the Mooney pilot transmit something over the radio; he couldn't recall what it was, but that it sounded angry, followed later by his transmitting in a calmer voice, "I will follow you in."

The commercial pilot continued to watch the Mooney as it flew past the end of the runway. He noticed that the Mooney's landing gear were still down and the airplane was climbing at "a steeper than normal angle at a slow speed." The Mooney then started to make a left turn, and the nose "dropped." The airplane entered a counterclockwise spin toward the ground, descending "so fast it didn't even make a complete turn before it went out of sight."

The commercial pilot subsequently took off in another airplane and flew over the crash site, and noted that the accident airplane was on fire with the entire cabin engulfed in flames.

The commercial pilot did not note hearing any transmissions from the local pilot.

A witness near the impact site did not see the Mooney, but noted that, "almost simultaneously I heard the engine stop followed by a huge thud."

Additional witnesses confirmed that the two airplanes went around after approaching the runway from opposite directions, also confirming the Mooney's hard right turn, possibly dragging a wing, followed by a steep climb and a stall/spin. A golfer who was on a nearby course stated that he saw the belly of the airplane with the right wing up, left wing down, and that the airplane was in a nose dive with the left wing as a pivot point.

In written statement, the local pilot noted that he had departed LKP earlier that morning from runway 32, and that he monitored UNICOM (Universal Communications) frequency 122.8 [MHz], which was the local airport frequency. He switched frequency before stopping at another airport and spending some time there. On his way back to LKP, he switched back to 122.8, but approaching the airport, he "never heard or observed any air traffic in the lake Placid area." The pilot flew over the airport and the wind sock indicated wind slightly favoring runway 32. The pilot flew over the ski jumps, flew a [left] base leg and continued to descend the airplane. He then turned the airplane on to final approach, and initially didn't see any other aircraft. He then saw another airplane that appeared to be departing runway 14, so he turned his airplane to the right, and then flew a left traffic pattern to a landing on runway 14. He further noted, "I never heard any radio transmissions from any plane or UNICOM."

The pilot, age 63, held a private pilot certificate with an airplane, single engine land rating. His latest Federal Aviation Administration third class medical certificate was issued on June 24, 2014. On his application, the pilot indicated 729 hours of flight time.

The pilot's logbook was charred, with remaining pages mostly smeared from fire-fighting water contact. Although the date was destroyed due to burn damage, the pilot's latest flight review was logged one flight prior to his May 2, 2014, instrument proficiency check. The last flight logged was four flights later (date also destroyed) between two North Carolina airports. At the time, the pilot had logged 729 total flight hours with time in make and model unknown.

Accident Airplane

The airplane was powered by a Lycoming IO-360 engine driving a two-bladed aluminum propeller. The aircraft logbook indicated that, as of the latest annual inspection on January 30, 2014, a total airframe time of 3,404 hours, total engine time the same, engine time since major overhaul 806 hours, and propeller time since new of 385 hours.

There were no flight data or cockpit voice recording devices on the airplane.

Other Airplane

According to the local pilot, his 1946 Luscombe 8A did not have an electrical system, "or any installed electrical equipment other than an ELT. The radio that is often used in this airplane is a small, battery operated handheld that rests atop the elevator trim mechanism which is located between the seat cushions in the cramped and noisy cabin. It delivers varying degrees of performance and reliability and encourages 'see-and-be-seen' flying to include use of standard rectangular traffic patterns. The aircraft is based at Lake Placid Airport which is used by radio equipped and non-radio equipped aircraft and there is seasonal glider activity."

In addition, "the handheld radio is sensitive to movement or jarring that may alter volume settings or cause other malfunctions as a result of loosened or disconnected wires that protrude from the top and side of the radio. The radio must be lifted from its normal position to change frequency and adjust squelch. Returning to Lake Placid at an altitude of 3,000 feet the radio was tuned to 122.8 9 [Mhz] and seemed to be operating properly as it was receiving distant transmissions but none pertinent to Lake Placid Airport. After some adjustment, the radio was returned to its normal position for the descent and pattern entry….The radio was again quiet and the traffic pattern was empty….The radio was silent and the only observed activity was an airplane taxiing near the fuel ramp."

After the go-around, the pilot thought he heard a "faint, unreadable transmission, and he radioed that [he] was aborting the approach to 32 and entering the traffic pattern for a landing on 14. The radio was quiet."

Weather, recorded at an airport 13 nautical miles northwest, at 1051, included clear skies, visibility 10 statute miles, wind from 220 degrees true at 3 knots, altimeter setting 30.28 inches Hg.

Accident Airplane

The airplane was powered by a Lycoming IO-360 engine driving a two-bladed aluminum propeller. The aircraft logbook indicated that, as of the latest annual inspection on January 30, 2014, a total airframe time of 3,404 hours, total engine time the same, engine time since major overhaul 806 hours, and propeller time since new of 385 hours.

There were no flight data or cockpit voice recording devices on the airplane.

Other Airplane

According to the local pilot, his 1946 Luscombe 8A did not have an electrical system, "or any installed electrical equipment other than an ELT. The radio that is often used in this airplane is a small, battery operated handheld that rests atop the elevator trim mechanism which is located between the seat cushions in the cramped and noisy cabin. It delivers varying degrees of performance and reliability and encourages 'see-and-be-seen' flying to include use of standard rectangular traffic patterns. The aircraft is based at Lake Placid Airport which is used by radio equipped and non-radio equipped aircraft and there is seasonal glider activity."

In addition, "the handheld radio is sensitive to movement or jarring that may alter volume settings or cause other malfunctions as a result of loosened or disconnected wires that protrude from the top and side of the radio. The radio must be lifted from its normal position to change frequency and adjust squelch. Returning to Lake Placid at an altitude of 3,000 feet the radio was tuned to 122.8 9 [Mhz] and seemed to be operating properly as it was receiving distant transmissions but none pertinent to Lake Placid Airport. After some adjustment, the radio was returned to its normal position for the descent and pattern entry….The radio was again quiet and the traffic pattern was empty….The radio was silent and the only observed activity was an airplane taxiing near the fuel ramp."

After the go-around, the pilot thought he heard a "faint, unreadable transmission, and he radioed that [he] was aborting the approach to 32 and entering the traffic pattern for a landing on 14. The radio was quiet."

The wreckage was located mostly on the side of a small levee about 075 degrees, 0.60 nm from the center of LKP, in the vicinity of 44 degrees, 16.03 minutes north latitude, 073 degrees, 56.94 minutes west longitude.

There were two damaged pine trees leading to the impact site, at an estimated 30 feet from the main wreckage. Direction from the pine trees to the wreckage was about 120 degrees magnetic. Damage found about 12 feet above the ground on the left pine tree was consistent with impact damage found near the tip of the airplane's left wing. Damage found about 15 feet above the ground on the right pine tree was consistent with the distance from the airplane's left wing damage to its propeller. Damage between the two pine trees was consistent with about a 25- to 30-degree left-wing-down airplane position at tree impact.

The wreckage came to rest with the left wing and engine at the base of the levee, and with the right wing partially bent over the top of the levee. Ground indentations, paint chips, a small area of surface abrasions, spar damage and wingtip compression were together consistent with the right wing having flexed downward and forward upon initial impact.

The tail section was bent to the right in relation to the rest of the fuselage, consistent with nose-left rotation at impact.

With NTSB concurrence, the occupants were removed from the airplane prior to NTSB arrival. To facilitate removal, part of the airplane's tubular structure had been cut away.

Extensive charring and fusing of materials were noted in the cockpit area as well as a semi-flattening of the instrument panel. There was no evidence of an in-flight fire.

All flight control surfaces were accounted for at the accident scene, and flight control continuity was confirmed from the control surfaces to entry points of the charred cockpit.

Engine control positions at the time of impact could not be confirmed due to impact forces and the postcrash fire.

The landing gear would have normally been actuated manually via mechanical linkage through a "Johnson bar" located between the front seats. The Johnson bar was found parallel to the semi-flattened instrument panel, consistent with the landing gear being in the down position. In addition, one main landing gear was found partially extended and one fully extended; and both tires exhibited dirt skid marks and staining consistent with their being out of the wheel wells when the airplane impacted the ground. The nose landing gear was destroyed.

Flap positions could not be definitively determined. Flaps, which were normally hydraulically operated and mechanically linked, were observed to be extended or partially extended to various degrees along the wings at the scene. The flap relief valve handle, which normally releases hydraulic pressure at a slow rate to allow springs or air forces to raise the flaps, was found in the "Up" or "Release" position, but was attached to the deformed instrument panel.

The airplane's wings were subsequently removed and the wreckage was transported to a secure NYSP holding yard. There, with additional charred material removed, the mechanical trim and flap indicators were found. The indicators would have normally been mounted vertically in the airplane below the engine controls and forward of the Johnson bar. However, with the fire and crushing, they were found almost horizontal, to the right of the Johnson bar. Indications as found had the trim indicator at the "Takeoff" position, and the flap indicator between "Landing" and "Takeoff."

The propeller was examined both at the scene and at the NYSP holding yard. There was no significant torsional bending, yet there was significant leading edge burnishing and chordwise markings on both propeller blades, consistent with the propeller passing through the sandy river soil mix prevalent at the accident site.

The engine was also examined at the holding yard with no evidence of preexisting mechanical anomalies found. In addition, there was scoring on the starter Bendix housing and grinding on the starter ring gear, consistent with the engine attempting to pull the propeller through the soil.

Subsequent to the accident, a wavy scrape mark was found in the right half of the runway in the vicinity of a taxiway that led to the ramp. NYSP photographs revealed that the mark was continuous with various branches "Y"ing off and rejoining the main scrape. The scrape was 17 feet in length and appeared deepest at its southernmost point. Looking toward the southeast, down runway 14, the scrape veered gradually to the left, which was inconsistent with an airplane seen turning hard to the right. Examination of the airplane's right wing tip revealed a pristine wingtip position light and no structural damage that would have been consistent with the wingtip scraping the runway.

An autopsy of the pilot, performed at the Adirondack Medical Center, Saranac Lake, New York, determined the cause of death to be "blunt force trauma." No significant natural disease, including no coronary atherosclerosis, was identified.

Toxicological testing, performed by the FAA's Forensic Toxicology Research Team, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, found metoprolol in urine and in cavity blood (no amounts noted.) According to the FAA Aeromedical Research web site, metoprolol "is a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist, "beta blocker," used in the treatment of hypertension and certain arrhythmias."