History of Flight
On 24 February 2022, at 0730Z, a Mooney M20F aircraft registered ZS-EUC departed on a private flight from Runway 09 at Lake Naverone Airfield in KwaZulu-Natal Province. The intended destination was Hoedspruit Airfield in Limpopo Province. The pilot held an Airline Transport Pilot Licence and had accumulated 28,102.59 total flying hours, with 146.37 hours on the Mooney M20F.
According to the pilot, a runway inspection conducted on 23 February had revealed that the beginning of the slightly curved grass runway was waterlogged. On the day of the flight, the pilot backtracked on Runway 09, performed a 180-degree turn at the end, and completed a pre-flight checklist that included a power check with the fuel mixture leaned to achieve required parameters. He then taxied approximately 120 metres down the runway before commencing takeoff, as the runway remained waterlogged.
During the takeoff roll, the pilot began rotation at 66 knots, noting that acceleration was slower than normal and that the aircraft's stall warning was audible but intermittent. As the nose lifted off the ground, a small bump on the runway caused the aircraft to become airborne prematurely. This resulted in an abrupt reduction in airspeed, with the nose significantly higher than normal. The pilot focused on lowering the nose and keeping the wings level, but the aircraft veered to the left of the runway and collided with a barbed wire fence.
Damage and Injuries
The aircraft came to a stop in a wings-level attitude. The right main landing gear collapsed, and the right wing became entangled with the barbed wire fence during the accident sequence. Both propeller blades sustained damage, along with the left-wing leading edge and the nose section. The pilot and the passenger evacuated the aircraft without assistance and reported no injuries.
Probable Cause and Contributing Factor
The probable cause of the accident was that the pilot lost directional control of the aircraft, which drifted off the left side of the runway and collided with the barbed wire fence. A contributing factor was that the pilot did not compensate for the nose-high attitude, which led to the aircraft becoming airborne prematurely and stalling.
Meteorological and Aerodrome Information
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the flight. The surface wind was calm at 0 knots, temperature 19.8°C, dew point 14.2°C, and no clouds were reported. The accident site was located at GPS coordinates 29°44’31.0’’ South 029°16’05.0’’ East at an elevation of 5,400 feet.