12 Sep 2019: Mooney M20J No Series

12 Sep 2019: Mooney M20J No Series (N202JB) — Unknown operator

No fatalities • Bowie, MD, United States

Probable cause

A blockage of the pitot static system that preclude the airspeed indicator from displaying speeds greater than 40 mph, which led the pilot to abort the landing and overrun the runway.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

On September 12, 2019, about 1120 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20J airplane, N202JB, impacted a car after aborting a takeoff from Freeway Airport (W00), Bowie, Maryland. The private pilot and pilot-rated passenger sustained minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The airplane was operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan had been filed for the personal cross-county flight, which was originating at the time of the accident. According to the pilot, he performed a preflight inspection of the airplane with no anomalies noted. Then, he taxied to the active runway and initiated the takeoff roll; he noted that the airspeed rose to 40 mph. A moment later he looked again, and the airspeed did not rise above 40 mph. The airplane was about one-third to halfway down the 2,420-ft runway when the pilot elected to abort the takeoff, and subsequently overran the departure end of runway 36. The airplane broke through the airport perimeter fence and struck a car on a highway just off the airport property. The airplane's left wing sustained leading-edge impact damage and had separated from the airframe at the wing root. The right wing and fuselage were also substantially damaged. A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector performed an examination of the airplane's pitot/static system. The tubing that supplied air to the airspeed indicator was secure to the back of the instrument. Uncalibrated pressurized air was applied to the fractured tubing at the left-wing root and the airspeed indicator moved and indicated up to 95 knots. The pitot tube was undamaged and remained attached to the left wing. It was removed and no debris was noted in the ram-air intake or drainage holes. An attempt was made to run pressurized air from the pitot tube to the left-wing root, however due to impact damage on the wing, air was unable to pass through the tubing. According to the airframe maintenance logbook, the most recent annual inspection was completed on June 19, 2019, at a total time of 4,405.2 hours. The most recent altimeter/Pitot-static system check was completed August 8, 2018. Maintenance was completed on the instrument panel of the airplane on the day prior to the accident, however, the mechanic stated to the FAA inspector that the work performed was not near the airspeed indicator.

Contributing factors

  • cause Malfunction
  • Damaged/degraded
  • Pilot

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 300/11kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.