Greenwood Lake Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

West Milford, New Jersey 07480
Thursday, April 10, 2003 20:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot flew from his home airport to another airport to drop off a friend, who was to pick up another airplane. When they landed at the other airport there was a nose wheel shimmy. The pilot shut the engine down at the fixed base operator, and both he and the other pilot got out to check the nose wheel. He could find nothing wrong, and when the friend was ready, they both departed in their separate airplanes to return to their home airport. When they arrived, the other airplane landed first. The accident pilot flew his approach to the 4,000 foot long runway 6, with the flaps set to 20 degrees. After touch down, the nose of the airplane veered to the right; however, he did not recall any shimmy of the nose wheel. He pulled back on the yoke to ease the nose up, but he pulled back too hard and the airplane became airborne again. He thought he would touch down on the runway again, but instead, the airplane landed between the runway and taxiway, and struck rocks. The pilot said he did not experience any other mechanical problems during the landing. The pilot estimated the winds to be variable at 5 knots. Winds reported at the other airport, about 30 miles northeast were from 120 at 7 knots.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate compensation for the crosswind and his failure to maintain directional control. Factors in the accident were the crosswind and landing at night.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 4/10/2003
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 2040
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City West Milford
Event State NEW JERSEY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 07480
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 410742N
Event Location Longitude 0742048W
Event Location Airport GREENWOOD LAKE
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 4N1
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 791
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2045 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID SWF
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Night
Lowest Ceiling Height 15000
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) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 7
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 0
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.1
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16769
NTSB Notification Source EROC
NTSB Notification Date Apr 11 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1720
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2004 11:17AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Teterboro

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N231LS
NTSB Number NYC03LA083
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20K
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 25-0136
Certified Max Gross Weight 2900
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 Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jun 25 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 1510
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name C.D. Aircraft Leasing Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 345 East 104th Street
Aircraft Owner City New York
Aircraft Owner State NY
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10029
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 No
Departure Airport Code SWF
Departure City NEWBURGH
Departure State NY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 2015
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code 4N1
Destination City West Milford
Destination State NJ
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing - flare/touchdown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 13 2004 2:05PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 6
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --