Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Wokal Field/Glasgow Intnl Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Glasgow, Montana 59230
Saturday, January 19, 2002 15:20 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot initiated his takeoff on runway 12 in the Mooney M20E and rotated at 60-65 MPH. He then raised the manually operated landing gear but had difficulty securing the gear retraction handle in the down (gear up and locked) position. During this event he became distracted with securing the gear in the up and locked position and the aircraft transitioned to a nose high and slow airspeed condition. A witness observed the aircraft reaching no more than 40-50 feet in altitude and rolling left. The pilot recognized this condition and pitched the nose down to increase airspeed. The aircraft impacted off the left side of the runway with its right wing, skidding across the runway and coming to rest on the south side of the runway; and the right wing displayed aft and upward bending with 45 degree scratch markings on its underside. Post crash examination revealed the gear retracted but not in the up and locked position. Wings level stall speed for a takeoff flap setting (15 degrees) in the M20E was documented in the Owner's Manual as 64 MPH.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain adequate flying airspeed resulting in a stall/mush condition and loss of control at low altitude. A contributing factor was the pilot's distraction from flying the aircraft while attempting to retract the landing gear.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/19/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1520 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Glasgow |
| Event State | MONTANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 59230 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 481242N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1063654W |
| Event Location Airport | Wokal Field/Glasgow Intnl |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GGW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2294 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1533 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GGW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 2294 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -1 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.51 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12874 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA SEA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 19 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1515 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 15 2003 4:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | HELENA FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N38AJ |
| NTSB Number | SEA02LA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Mooney |
| Aircraft Model | M20E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 776 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Valley Aviators, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Nashua |
| Aircraft Owner State | MT |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 59248 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Glasgow |
| Operator State | MT |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 59230 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GGW |
| Departure City | Glasgow |
| Departure State | MT |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1520 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 2 2002 2:17PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 12 |
| Runway Length | 5001 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |