Mooney Down at KCOS (Colorado Springs)

[LFOD]

http://www.gazette.com/articles/crashed-110012-reportedly-colorado.html

 

M20 with an AF officer and his wife. 

[N33GG]

Very sad.  God bless them and their families.

And for everybody else, be careful out there!

[MooneyMitch]

Such a sad situation for their families. 

[Capt_CrashN_Burn]

So sad to hear about this. It just goes to show that each and every day we get to spend on this earth is a gift, and should be treated as such. It's a good thing they didn't leave orphans behind.

[DaV8or]

Really, really sad and my sympathies go out to the family and the pilot. It's really easy to be suckered into this situation. Reports on the AOPA forum says that conditions were 1/4 mile vis and freezing. Second try and he bit it.

Just a reminder that if you're not John Travolta, or someone in his league, we don't have personal airliners. We cannot adhear to a strict schedule.

[mooneygirl]

You know Dave, I was thinking the same thing. Mitch and I are studying for our IFR written exam.  So this is all pretty new for us.  But I was thinking, with ALL DUE RESPECT to the family, whether military flying might lead you to be more confident that you should be. Perhaps some of our ex-military can give their thoughts.  Would flying the latest and greatest for a living, give us too much confidence in our little Mooneys?

Again, I am not trying to second-guess or offend anyone. I was just thinking about the factors that might lead someone to make those decisions with your family on board.

So sad.

[Ned Gravel]

I am not going to second-guess the investigation or the pilot and his decision making.  But being ex-military myself (army) we all know that our procedures today were written because of lessons that cost a lot to learn.  This is one of those for me and the very least I can do is learn something from this.

My lesson has to do with personal minima, use of alternates after going missed, and always having an "out."

I have not been instrument rated long enough to experience the conditions that existed in and around Colorado Springs at the time of the crash, but I understand they included heavy fog and below zero temperatures.  These conditions are below my own minima and if I encountered them inadvertently, where would I look for my "out?"

What would I do if I encountered them in the forecast before flight?

What would I do if an enroute briefing modified the forecast to include these conditions prior to the approach?

What would I do if I encountered them during the approach?

 

[thinwing]

This accident struck me very close to home,because It happened to me one night and resulted in repeated approaches far below my personal minimums.So I immediately thought "there by the grace of God go I...looking back I got myself into a jam with no alternative airport I could reach with dwindling fuel and by the shearest terror filled margin I lucked out to a normal landing.My sincere condolences to this family...kpc

[Cruiser]

Should have been a piece of cake for this level of skilled pilot. Must have been something else involved. We will have to wait for the report.

In the meantime, prayers for the family.

[N513ZM]

This is a tragedy, but unfortunately an all too common one.

Overconfidence, get-there-itis, get-home-itis - whatever - something made this pilot do something he would probably preach not to do.

Why on earth does an experienced B1 pilot used to flying to strict safety standards throw all that out the window and even DEPART heading to a landing in those conditions in the equipment he was flying? 

ONE HUNDRED FEET VERTICAL VISIBILITY WITH ONE QUARTER MILE HORIZONTAL VISIBILITY IN FREEZING FOG? I will not fly that in my FIKI Ovation much less in a non-FIKI airplane. The conditions existed for hours before and after the accident.

How does one let oneself get into such a situation where the only option is to attempt a landing in those conditions?

This is the continual thread that one sees over the years - talented, experienced, everything to live for pilots who do inexplicably insane things and kill themselves and others.

I am sure that he was a helluva nice guy. I am sure that I don't know all the details. I am sure that this is a tragedy for those left behind.

When I got my instrument ticket 13 years ago the DE who signed the form said to me: "Don't let me read about you in the papers". I knew then and still know today what he meant.

I fly 150-200hrs a year of often hard IFR. I wouldn't DREAM of attempting an approach in those conditions. I can't imagine what made him think he could. I would have diverted hours and hundreds of miles before, or not even departed.

There, I've said what I really think and if it is hubris on my part so be it. Say what you will after I auger in some dark night - oh, make that day - I don't fly IFR at night because I like to stack the deck in my favor..

This is a tragedy and a continual puzzlement. It's not engine failure, it's not mechanical failure, it's not a mid air, it's not a bird strike, it's not a medical problem. It's some puzzling thing that makes pilots who should know better do something that is in all probability completely out of character. And they pay the price.

Frankly, it scares the crap out of me.

The fighter pilot's motto: Don't do nuthin dumb.

Mike

 

 

[Cruiser]

he missed the runway which sounds like he had no forward vision through the windshield.

Anyone know how a Mooney flies loaded with ice in a forward slip?

RIP.

[N513ZM]

this is not the only Mooney accident this day in freezing precip conditions - we lost an Ovation driver as well

the kathrynsreport references 

"The Sheriff’s Office reported there was freezing rain and a sleeting storm at the time of the crash."

FAA

IDENTIFICATION

  Regis#: 968SM        Make/Model: MO20      Description: M20, M20A/B/C/D/E/F/G/J/L/R/S, M20K/M (T

  Date: 12/23/2010     Time: 0050


  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N

  Damage: Unknown


LOCATION

  City: PENN YAN   State: NY   Country: US


DESCRIPTION

  AIRCRAFT CRASHED IN A WOODED AREA, THE 1 PERSON ON BOARD WAS FATALLY 

  INJURED, 8 MILES FROM PENN YAN, NY


INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   1

                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    

                 # Pass:   0     Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    

                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:    


WEATHER: 0016 AUTO 29009G18KT 9SM OVC M04/M06 A2996


OTHER DATA

  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER



  FAA FSDO: ROCHESTER, NY  (EA23)                 Entry date: 12/23/2010 

ASN

http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=86754

Kathryn

http://kathrynsreport.com/?p=19321

[M016576]

Looks like he was a young pilot to me (2007 grad of USAFA means finished flight school last year, and probably still in training, or very junior in the BONE).  My guess is that the pilot got his instrument ticket through military equivilence and probably had little (if any) IFR time in his mooney.  I would chalk this one up to inexperience and a bad call to execute an approach into icing conditions.  Very, very sad.

In response to military experience leading to accidents: I would say that it's like anything in aviation.  You learn, you become certified or get your ticket, then you REALLY learn, and hope that your skills develop before your luck runs out.  There is no substitute for experience, both on the ground before the flight, during and in the post flight portions (being self-critical of the entire flight... radio comms that could be smoother, cockpit management, actual aviating, wx decisions, etc).  In summary: being a current or ex military pilot doesn't make one safer or more dangerous, it is just a pathway to aviation experience.  It is ultimately up to each individual pilot to continually ensure they are up to the challenge of performing each flight, safely, that they embark on.

I think that's probably why you see military guys like George and I on this board: not only because we're "mooniacs," but because we're here to learn as well....

 

-JoB

[fantom]

Quote: mooneygirl

.....military flying might lead you to be more confident that you should be. Perhaps some of our ex-military can give their thoughts.  Would flying the latest and greatest for a living, give us too much confidence in our little Mooneys?

 

Actually, I suspect it's just the opposite. It was for me, because my little Mooney has much less capability than my BIG Fantom, the training, checks, and medicals were much more intense in the Air Force, if we ran into trouble there was lots of help from the ground, and the regs precluded us from getting into the kind of trouble these poor souls found themselves in, may they RIP.

To everyone here, have a wonderful Christmas.

 

[jax88]

Sounds like a little bit of what the FDE who signed my private ticket was warning me about . . . some pilots convince themselves that having an instrument rating means they can fly in any type of weather.

[Skyatty]

First and foremost, my condolences to the families; their losses are particularly hard at this time of year.  I look at the weather picture that he faced and the two attempted approaches in those conditions and wish he had made a different decision.  AOPA is constantly publishing materials that recommend against the additional attempt at an approach when the initial attempt revealed a below minimums situation.  It's just not worth it; divert to your well-planned alternate and figure out another way to get to the final destination. Moreover, a pilot and his passengers' lives are always worth the expense of last minute commercial tickets when the weather makes a safe and shiny arrival too challenging.  Merry Christmas to all of you and great wishes for a New Year filled with blue skies and many hours of safe flying.

[Skybrd]

Quote: N6719N

Very sad.  God bless them and their families.

And for everybody else, be careful out there!

[PTK]

God bless them.  Tragic. Very tragic.

[takair]

Quote: Skybrd

 This is sure a tragedy. This morning I was thinking about this accident and wonder if part of the cause could have been from frozen plexiglass and loss of visibility. I'm not sure how well the defrost system could keep up with freezing mosture on the glass. I have friends that have no defrost on their airplanes and my Wittman Tailwind doesn't have any cabin heat. It would be terrible to have the glass freeze up and not be able to see outside especially on a approach. My M20E Mooney has cabin heat and not sure if it could keep the glass clear enough if I entered the same situation. Any of you had your glass freeze up during flight and had to do something to heat it up?

[jelswick]

Skybrd, I've gotten into ice inadvertantly in my C model earlier and about 2 yrs ago in my J and that time the windshield did freeze over.  It was flying to Canada from Ohio over the lake to show a plane we were brokering (my Mooney being the chase plane).  I'd had no ice so far on the trip going in and out of clouds and it was the last cloud I went through that I came out of it with the windshield iced over.  It was a little startling, but not having time to get too worked up I just went immediately onto the instruments and it sublimated over the next 5-10 minutes (also had the defrost running).  I can't imagine flying into known icing or freezing rain, but I assume most pilots are smart people and I won't judge what this guy did or why not knowing the exact situation.  Very tragic and sad regardless.  Ice really does scare me and once I have both kids off to college, TKS will be the next investment after that just to buy more time to get out of ice if I ever hit it again.   

[flight2000]

The NTSB has posted their prelimenary findings.  Not good at all, but should give us some lessons learned.  RIP!

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20101222X54546&key=1

 

NTSB Identification: CEN11FA124
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, December 22, 2010 in Colorado Springs, CO
Aircraft: MOONEY M20E, registration: N79869
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

 

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On December 22, 2010, at 1159 mountain standard time, a Mooney M20E airplane, N79869, impacted terrain following a missed approach to City of Colorado Springs Municipal Airport (COS), Colorado Springs, Colorado. The commercial pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. The personal flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 with an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan. The cross-country flight originated at Rapid City Regional Airport (RAP), Rapid City, South Dakota, and the intended destination was COS. Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the time of the accident.

The pilot checked in with COS approach control at 1138 and was given an ILS approach to Runway 17L. The pilot flew one approach and reported going missed approach at 1158:27 and disappeared from radar about 1159. The airplane wreckage was located about .1 mile south of the approach end of Runway 17L and about 400 feet east of the runway centerline.

The pilot reported “VFR on top” and entering clouds during the approach at glide slope intercept at 8,500 feet mean sea level (MSL) Weather at 1154 was reported 100 foot ceiling, .25 mile visibility with freezing fog, temperature 26.6 degrees F, and winds 160 degrees at 07 knots. During the approach runway visual range was reported to the pilot as varying between 800 feet and 1,200 feet. While the pilot was speaking to approach controllers during his approach two commercial aircraft departed COS and reported to approach controllers light icing.

The wreckage and initial impact were aligned on a 285 degree magnetic heading. All wreckage was contained within about 100 feet, with the main wreckage consisting of the engine, both wings, and the fuselage aft of the cockpit mostly collocated about 20 feet south and east of the initial impact point. The cockpit was mostly consumed by post crash fire. The fuselage and the empennage were upright with the right wing attached. The left wing was partially attached to the fuselage and inverted. The leading edge of both wings exhibited accordion type crushing consistent with a near vertical impact. The landing gear were in the retracted position. The engine was located next to the left side of the cockpit area. One propeller blade was partially embedded at the initial impact site and exhibited leading edge polishing. The remaining two blades were attached to the propeller hub.