Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Vermillion, Illinois 61955
Saturday, December 3, 1988 13:30 CST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THE OWNER/PLT & AN INSTRUCTOR (CFI/CHECK PLT) DEPARTED TERRE HAUTE ON A LOCAL FLT TO PROVIDE A BIENNIAL FLT REVIEW (BFR) FOR THE OWNER/PLT. ABOUT 30 MIN LATER, A WITNESS HEARD THE ACFT'S ENG 'POWER UP' TO WHAT HE BELIEVED WAS A FULL POWER SETTING. HE THEN SAW THE ACFT DESCENDING 'STRAIGHT DOWN IN A CLOCKWISE SPIRAL WITH THE COCKPIT TO THE INSIDE OF THE TURN' UNTIL IT DISAPPEARED FROM HIS VIEW. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THE ACFT SUBSEQUENTLY IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A RIGHT SPIRALING DESCENT. THERE WAS NO HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ACFT AFTER IMPACT. RECORDS SHOWED THAT THE PLT/OWNER HAD 1721 HRS OF FLT TIME WITH ABOUT 300 HRS IN THIS MAKE/MODEL; NO RECORD OF SPIN TRAINING WAS FOUND REGARDINGTHE OWNER/PLT. AN EXAM OF THE CFI/CHECK PLT'S FLT LOG SHOWED HE HAD A TOTAL FLT TIME OF 472 HRS (OF WHICH 271 HRS WAS AS A CFI); HOWEVER, THE CFI HAD LOGGED NO PREVIOUS FLT TIME IN ANY MOONEY ACFT. ON THIS FLT, THE PLT/OWNER WAS CONSIDERED TO THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND (PIC).

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/3/1988
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1330
Event Time Zone Central Standard Time
Event City VERMILLION
Event State ILLINOIS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 61955
Event Date Year 1988
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 0
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1245 Central Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 310
Weather Observation Facility ID HUF
Elevation of weather observation facility 585
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation CST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 14
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 14
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2396
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Dec 3 1988 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1458
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 42017
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 12:21PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N201UL
NTSB Number CHI89FA030
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name MOONEY
Aircraft Model M20J
Aircraft Series Identifier M20J
Aircraft Serial Number 24-0373
Certified Max Gross Weight 2740
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Feb 19 1988 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 110
Airframe Hours 1845
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name WILLIAM H. HARADER
Aircraft Owner Street Address 37 DOE DRIVE
Aircraft Owner City TERRE HAUTE
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 47802
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code 3I3
Departure City TERRE HAUTE
Departure State IN
Departure Country
Departure Time 1300
Departure Time Zone CST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 3I3
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:30AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 0
Runway Length 0
Runway Width 0
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --