Jeffco Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Broomfield, Colorado 80020
Sunday, November 3, 2002 17:34 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot said he made a full flap landing. Instead of keeping the nose wheel off the runway, he relaxed elevator back pressure. When the nose wheel contacted the runway, the airplane swerved to the left. The pilot attempted to straighten the airplane using right rudder and brakes, but was unsuccessfull and he lost directional control. The airplane went off the runway and traveled across snow-covered grass. The right main and nose landing gears collapsed, and the airplane slid to a halt on the upslope side of a drainage ditch parallel to the runway. Postaccident examination disclosed the steering horn attach bolt was sheared at the nut end and the bolt head was slightly backed away from the nose gear truss where it attached. Mooney Service Bulletin M20-169, dated July 18, 1968, requires the replacement of the AN3-20A bolt with a NAS623-3-29 screw. This had not been accomplished. No brake discrepancies were noted. It could not be determined if the bolt had sheared prior to or upon touchdown or during the impact sequence. The pilot later said that if he had held the nose wheel off the runway as long as possible instead of relaxing elevator back pressure when the airplane touched down, speed would have dissipated and he could have kept the airplane on the runway by using differential braking. Damage consisted of collapsed right main and nose landing gears, buckled wing and nose gear attach points, firewall, several wing ribs, and crushed wing tips and tail cone.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control after landing due to a sheared steering horn attach bolt that should have been replaced by maintenance personnel in compliance with an outstanding service bulletin. Contributing factors included the pilot's improper aircraft handling (relaxing elevator back pressure at high speed during rollout) and the ditch.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 11/3/2002
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1734
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Broomfield
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80020
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 11
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? --
Event Location Latitude 395431N
Event Location Longitude 1070702W
Event Location Airport Jeffco Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID BJC
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5670
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1745 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID BJC
Elevation of weather observation facility 5670
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 40
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 4
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.19
Density Altitude (feet) 4764
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13326
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Center
NTSB Notification Date Nov 3 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1751
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N9288M
NTSB Number DEN03LA013
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 1221
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 Jun 11 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 57
Airframe Hours 4330
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Paul F. Hahn
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Wheat Ridge
Aircraft Owner State CO
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 80033
Operator is an individual? No
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? --
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 BJC
Departure City Broomfield
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1600
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code BJC
Destination City Broomfield
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Apr 1 2003 3:01PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 29R
Runway Length 9000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --