The pilot of a Mooney M20J was attempting to land in Warsaw, Indiana. He told investigators that during the downwind leg of the traffic pattern he did not compensate for winds pushing the airplane toward the runway and, as a result, he overshot the turn to final. The Mooney was not aligned with the runway when it hit the ground hard and bounced.
The airplane began to porpoise, then went off the runway. The pilot attempted a go-around, but was unable to regain control of the airplane.
The right wingtip hit a fuel storage facility about 350 feet left of the runway and there was significant fuel spilled, but no post-impact fire ensued. The landing gear collapsed and there was substantial damage to the engine mount, firewall, fuselage, and both wings.
The pilot told investigators that he had become complacent after flying this airplane for six years, that he was unprepared for the violent bouncing from the hard landing, and that he should have had better training to prepare him for the stress, confusion, and surprise that resulted.
The NTSB attributed the accident to the pilot’s improper recovery from a bounced landing and failure to maintain control of the airplane during a go-around maneuver. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s complacency flying the airplane and his lack of training on bounced landing recovery procedures as the cause of the accident.
NTSB Identification: CEN13CA144
This January 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
“By the third bounce???”….sorry but I totally disagree…you go around in the first bounce unless is a very small bounce (I don’t call that a bounce)…I have 11.000 hours and today doing touch and goes on my C170 I pushed a little too much doing a wheel landing and bounced, I was straight, enough runway and I could control the bounce and complete the landing easily but it was sunny and had fuel for hours and I immediately go around didn’t even waited for the second bounce did another pattern and a beautiful landing and had fun all the way…
Instructors are taught to teach Pilots to go around if he or she is not lined up with the center line,when they roll out on final.
The “mentor” should have said, ” If not under control after the FIRST bounce, then the pilot should go around.” On a Mooney, usually it will be the third “out-of-control” bounce that will get the prop. The Mooney is an easy plane to land, but if every landing a pilot has made has been a good one and the pilot has never experienced a nose-wheel bounce followed by a PIO (Pilot Induced Oscillation) then the first one will be a terrible surprise, which will possibly lead to a prop strike. This particular incident had other issues as well, departing the runway and making a sad mess of the plane. Every instructor checking a pilot out in a Mooney should teach recognition of impending PIO, by actually inducing that first bounce and teaching the appropriate (and easy) recovery.
Come on… If one is not aligned with the center line when one is over the fence, a go-around should be the first thought, unless one is landing a Cherokee on a 10,000-ft runway, or dead stick.
Didn’t we all learn that a successful approach begins in the pattern. This pilot’s cavalier attitude at a time when he should be 100% focused is mostly to blame.
Fortunately, no one was injured.
While I feel for this fellow pilot, am sorry his aircraft was extensively damaged and grateful no one was injured, I am scratching my head about exactly what this incident teaches.
Strong side winds cause drift from center line which is visible on a normal final. You compensate with a slip, by crabbing or if required by going around. This pilot was not a newbie, so the only thing that comes to mind is that he executed a military overhead break or similar non-standard approach intended to put the aircraft on the numbers without a normal final. In other words, he didn’t realize the effect of the side wind until it was too late. None of us can fly a perfect approach every time.
As for his self-flagellating comment to the authorities, to each his own. OTOH, exactly how does one train for a hard landing followed by PIO without damaging or destroying the aircraft in the process? One early mentor (not a CFI, an older pilot with substantial time in my type of aircraft) told me “If she ain’t under control by the third bounce, GO AROUND!!” Go-arounds certainly can be practiced.