Accident Details
On December 11, 2010, at 1241 Pacific standard time, a Mooney M20J, registration N4326H, collided with the runway surface during takeoff at Chino Airport, Chino, California. The airplane was being operated under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 by a student pilot/owner. The student pilot sustained serious injuries; the certified flight instructor (CFI) was not injured. The instructional flight had departed John Wayne-Orange County Airport, Santa Ana, California, about 1200. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
Sequence of Events
The CFI stated that they had just completed two simulated short-field takeoffs and decided to perform a simulated soft-field takeoff. The student pilot was at the controls during the takeoff roll. As the airplane rotated, the nose lifted at an angle that the CFI determined was excessive. He verbally coached the student to lower the nose, but the nose did not lower. He again requested that the student lower the nose, but the student did not respond. The airplane then began to drift to the left, so the CFI took the controls and attempted to lower the nose. Before the angle of attack was corrected, the right wing dropped. The CFI responded with rudder input, which was followed by an opposite wing drop. The airplane then landed hard and skidded off the runway on its belly. The CFI reported that fire simultaneously erupted as the airplane slid to a stop.
Post-Accident Examination
The airplane came to rest on a taxiway adjacent to the departure runway. The left main landing gear was located next to a manhole cover on the grass intermediate verge. The soil appeared freshly disrupted in the area of the cover, and a scrape and burn mark continued across the taxiway surface to the airplane’s location. The airplane was consumed by post-accident fire, with only the outboard wing sections and tail remaining.
Examination of the wreckage by the NTSB investigator-in-charge revealed that the steel flight controls were continuous from each control surface through to their respective cabin flight controls. The jack screw actuator extension dimensions for the elevator trim, landing gear, and flaps were compared to Mooney reference documentation. The positions revealed that the airplane was configured with the landing gear down, flaps fully extended (33 degrees), and the elevator set to the takeoff trim position. According to the Mooney Pilot's Operating Handbook applicable to the airplane serial number and type, prior to takeoff, the wing flaps should be set for the takeoff configuration of 15 degrees. The CFI reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation. All sections of the airplane were located at the accident site.