Mooney crash Friday in Germany

[Bob_Belville]

From a Facebook post... cowl gone, engine vertical, wing gone, empennage ripped around, but the cabin was intact enough that the pilot survives!

 

Thanks Al Mooney, et al!

 

http://www.bz-berlin.de/berlin/umland/flugzeug-abgestuerzt-pilot-ueberlebt

[Hank]

Wow! Proof of a sound, safe design. Wish I could read what they say happened . . .

[clh]

The article credits the pilot's many years of experience in saving his life.  

 

It basically says that the plane had landed at several airports throughout Germany.    The plane was making it's second approach attempt in thick fog and the plane clipped a tree and rolled.  The tree tore off the wing.  The plane was demolished but the pilot was pretty much unhurt. He was taken to a hospital for observation.

[Bob_Belville]

The article credits the pilot's many years of experience in saving his life.  

I think the article missed the obvious credit due shown right in the middle of the wreckage: that steel "roll cage". It is reminiscent of a NASCAR crash.  

[bonal]

Glad it had a happy ending. Mooney's are tough airplanes seems like fire is the big worry and if it don't catch fire you have a good chance to survive. Perhaps the thing to do is role inverted before impact to keep the wings up. So happy he walked away.

[cliffy]

The video shows the tree he hit with the wing next to it. He hit it about 8 feet from the ground. The Fire Dept is washing down the gas spill off the tree in the video. Wing looks to be right next to tree. Energy was dissipated slowly by having various parts leave the airplane over an extended time period, relatively speaking, thus keeping G loads to a survivable level.  Kind of like an F! race car, controlled demolition in a crash.

[ArtVandelay]

I think the article missed the obvious credit due shown right in the middle of the wreckage: that steel "roll cage". It is reminiscent of a NASCAR crash.

I don't the steel cage qualifies as a roll cage but is design to act as a frame to attack panels, not sure I would give the pilot credit either, I give the credit to luck that he didn't hit the tree straight on

[Bob_Belville]

I don't the steel cage qualifies as a roll cage but is design to act as a frame to attack panels, not sure I would give the pilot credit either, I give the credit to luck that he didn't hit the tree straight on

Maybe, but I suspect that the cabin of a brand P or even a B low wing lying topside down would likely be crushed. 

[fantom]

Strong plane and lucky/experienced pilot. And a parachute wouldn't have helped him.

[Awqward]

All four blades sheared off at the hub....

[Bob_Belville]

Flight Aware does not have registration info on Europe. The tail # is D-EAJK, what model? I guess "D" is Deutschland/Germany?

[neilpilot]

Flight Aware does not have registration info on Europe. The tail # is D-EAJK, what model? I guess "D" is Deutschland/Germany?

M20M, a Bravo, c/n 27-0148.

Based at Augsburg in Bavaria (yes, D prefix is German registry)

[flyboy0681]

Nothing short of miraculous.

[Jim Peace]

Nothing short of miraculous.

Sorry if I offend anyone and this is not directed at you flyboy0681,,,,but I find this nothing short of stupid.

 

Flying around in a single with low thick fog is crazy.  This type of weather is for multi engine cat2/3 certified airplanes with proper certified equipment and flight crews.  Gives GA a bad name....

 

Just because you are instrument rated does not mean its safe to fly in these conditions.  This movie gets played over and over......

[flyboy0681]

Sorry if I offend anyone and this is not directed at you flyboy0681,,,,but I find this nothing short of stupid.

 

Flying around in a single with low thick fog is crazy.  This type of weather is for multi engine cat2/3 certified airplanes with proper certified equipment and flight crews.  Gives GA a bad name....

 

Just because you are instrument rated does not mean its safe to fly in these conditions.  This movie gets played over and over......

 

I was going to say something very similar but was afraid of offending my brethren here. 

[Jim Peace]

I was going to say something very similar but was afraid of offending my brethren here. 

That is the problem with many things in this world.  People too afraid to call out stupidity....refraining to be kind seems nice but it just means more dead pilots.

[carqwik]

How does one wing shear off in a Mooney when it has a continuous wing spar? 

[Hank]

How does one wing shear off in a Mooney when it has a continuous wing spar?

When you hit an immovable object at 90-100 knots. The tree was just stronger than the spar.

[carusoam]

Call it stupid if you want...

Risk taker...

If God wanted us to fly, we would have been born with wings...

Where does one draw the line?

GA has a bad name because what we do makes no sense to many people on many levels.

I see a six cylinder Lycoming engine with a complex exhaust system, similar to my memory of a Bravo...

We have a few Mooney pilot board members from Europe. I fear it may be one of us...

Glad to hear the pilot is in better condition than the plane.

Assaulting another pilot won't help us any. I'm sure he has suitable challenges of his own to handle.

Best regards,

-a-

[ArtVandelay]

How does one wing shear off in a Mooney when it has a continuous wing spar?

You want it to shear off, dissipating energy, as a matter of fact if I had to ditch where there was no open area to land, aiming between two large trees 20-30 ft apart may be a good strategy, energy is dissipated and you leave the fuel behind you

[Jim Peace]

Where does one draw the line?

You are right.  Very low IFR in a plane that is basically a go cart with wings is just as good idea as any........

 

my bad.........

 

there should be no line.  If you are instrument rated then you are good to go.....lets throw in some ice too......cant have a party without ice....

[Fritz Kaiser]

Hello guys,

The TLS driver tried to land in extrem foggy weather.

After the second attempt the M20M hit a tree.

The tree were burning.

The pilot survived with minor hurts.

...i guess, his guardian angle flew also a mooney!

Fly safe!!

Greetings

Fritz

[PTK]

I was going to say something very similar but was afraid of offending my brethren here. 

In all fairness, there are politically correct ways to say it. Take your pick:

 

a few beers short of a six pack! a few peas short of a casserole! all foam no beer! if he had another brain, it would be lonely! someone's village is missing its idiot! surfing in Nebraska! one fruit loop shy of a full bowl!

 

It's unfortunate that the article gives no credit to where ALL credit is due! The legendary Mooney airframe!

Instead they give all the credit to this idiot who took a perfectly good airplane and destroyed it!

 

I am glad he got lucky as no one deserves to die for their stupidity. The poor Mooney didn't deserve him however.

[Awqward]

The airport doesn't even have an instrument approach....

From their website: "Instrument approach: On June 15, 2012 Schoenhagen Airport was granted approval for instrument flight operations. Unfortunately, it cannot be flown yet. There is a court case against the obstacle clearance deforestation."

Unfortunately this is common in Europe outside of major airline hubs very few airfields have IAPs....so some people make their own....hopefully not the case here....

[Awful_Charlie]

Somewhat unfair to castigate the pilot without looking at the forecast! God forbid you ever get caught out by the weather

Like many smaller aerodromes, Shoenhagen doesn't have it's own official weather reports, so one takes them from other airports in the vicinity. 

16nm NE is EDDB (Schoenefeld)

TAF AMD EDDB 011945Z 0119/0218 18005KT 8000 NSC BECMG 0119/0122 3500 BCFG TEMPO 0119/0210 1200 PRFG PROB30 TEMPO 0119/0209 0300 FG=

Note this is the AMENDED forecast, issued after the accident - the original was

TAF EDDB 011700Z 0118/0218 18005KT CAVOK BECMG 0201/0203 4000 BR PROB30 TEMPO 0203/0207 0800 FG BECMG 0206/0208 8000=

so you wouldn't plan a flight in those conditions to arrive at 19:00-19:30Z?

Here's the TAF from Tegel, 22nm NNE:
TAF EDDT 011700Z 0118/0218 14003KT CAVOK TEMPO 0204/0207 3500 BR BECMG 0204/0207 20005KT=

 

And here's the METARS for the time:

METAR EDDB 011850Z 14004KT 9999 MIFG NSC 11/10 Q1020 NOSIG=
METAR EDDT 011850Z 00000KT 9999 MIFG NSC 12/10 Q1020 NOSIG=
METAR EDDB 011920Z 15003KT 9999 MIFG NSC 11/10 Q1020 NOSIG=
METAR EDDT 011920Z 03001KT 9999 R08L/1200VP2000D R08R/P2000N MIFG NSC 11/10 Q1020 NOSIG=

See how quickly that has changed from similar to that forecast to considerably worse than forecast to the east?