History of Flight
On May 29, 2019, at 1115 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20J, registration N201DG, was destroyed when it struck the water near Cape May, New Jersey. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a personal flight under Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.
A witness reported seeing the airplane flying parallel to the beach about 10 ft above the water. It appeared stable and in control, then dipped, hit the water, and skipped up out of control. The airplane entered a steep climb to around 100 to 200 ft above the water, stalled, turned downward, and plunged almost straight into the water. The witness estimated the pitch-up attitude after water contact at 65° to 70° and the nose-down attitude during descent at 75° to 80°.
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) safety inspector stated that reports of a low-flying airplane traveling along the beach from north to south were received from several towns north of Cape May. Witnesses reported that the airplane would dive to the surface, fly low along the beach, and climb again.
One witness forwarded a video taken from Diamond Beach, about 5 miles north of the accident site. The airplane was near the shoreline, about 10 ft above the wave break, and the engine sound was smooth and continuous. At one point, the airplane descended below the horizon line. About 20 seconds into the 30-second video, the airplane began a steep climb and was about 200 ft above the surface when the video ended.
State and local law enforcement attempted recovery in the days following but were hampered by strong current, low visibility, and storms. On June 1, 2019, a commercial underwater salvage operator recovered the pilot along with the wreckage.
Personnel Information
The owner/operator stated that the pilot had returned to flying in October 2018. Training and rental records showed that since that time, the pilot had completed online FAA flight review training, received 17 hours of dual instruction, and accrued 44.1 total hours of flight experience.
Wreckage and Impact Information
All major components of the airplane were recovered except the left wing. The roof, left wing, and empennage were separated from the fuselage. Fracture surfaces showed features consistent with overload failure. Flight control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit area, through several breaks, to all available flight control surfaces, with overstress features at the breaks. The leading edge of the right wing was uniformly crushed aft along its entire span.
The engine was rotated by hand at the propeller, and powertrain continuity was confirmed to the accessory section. Thumb compression was confirmed on all cylinders. Examination of top spark plugs from each of the four cylinders revealed signatures consistent with normal wear and saltwater immersion. The single-drive dual magneto was destroyed by impact and saltwater immersion. The engine-driven fuel pump was removed, and when actuated by hand, pumped fluid from the output port. The fuel supply line was removed at the inlet port to the fuel manifold, where trace amounts of fuel were detected. The propeller was attached at the hub, and all three blades displayed similar aft bending.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner, Woodbine, New Jersey, performed an autopsy on the pilot. The cause of death was listed as "blunt trauma of head, neck, trunk, and extremities," and the manner of death as "suicide." The FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory performed toxicological testing on the pilot. Ethanol was detected in concentrations and distribution consistent with postmortem production. No tested-for drugs were identified.