Huntington Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Huntington, Indiana 46750
Wednesday, August 11, 2004 9:45 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain during an aborted landing. The purpose of the flight was to satisfy the dual-instruction flight requirements of a biennial flight review. The flight was being operated in visual meteorological conditions with reported local surface winds of 250 degrees at 11 knots. The pilot performed a simulated forced landing to runway 27 (5,001 feet by 75 feet, dry asphalt) and during the landing flare the airplane "experienced a slight balloon." The flight instructor stated that "the aircraft's stall horn sounded, [and the airplane] began to sink back to the runway as full [engine] power was applied and takeoff flaps were verified." The airplane then proceeded to drift and contact the right (north) edge of the runway. The pilot stated that the increase engine torque caused the airplane's heading to change from the west-northwest to the southwest. The pilot reported the airplane experienced a "slight bounce... touching again briefly on the south [left] edge of the runway." The pilot then established a climb to treetop level, while traveling on a southwesterly heading. Upon reaching treetop altitude the airplane began an unintentional descent resulting in a collision with the terrain about 50 feet south of the runway while on a northerly heading. The pilot and his flight instructor reported that they encountered "wind shear" during the aborted landing, which resulted in the collision with the terrain.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's inadequate flare and unsuccessful recovery from a bounced landing, and the pilot's and flight instructor's failure to maintain directional control and airspeed during the subsequent aborted landing, which resulted in a stall. A factor was the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/11/2004
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 945
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City Huntington
Event State INDIANA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 46750
Event Date Year 2004
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 381456N
Event Location Longitude 0865713W
Event Location Airport Huntington Municipal Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID HHG
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 806
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 954 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 61
Weather Observation Facility ID FWA
Elevation of weather observation facility 815
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 14
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2100
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
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) 18
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 12
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.93
Density Altitude (feet) 1354
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 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 16480
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Aug 11 2004 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1145
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 28 2004 10:11AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Federal Aviation Administration - South Bend FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N201AM
NTSB Number CHI04CA222
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 M20J
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 24-0387
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 Jul 6 2004 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 7
Airframe Hours 3658.2
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name BH & B, Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 14505 White Loon Pass
Aircraft Owner City Roanoke
Aircraft Owner State IN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 46783
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) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code HHG
Departure City Huntington
Departure State IN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 830
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code HHG
Destination City Huntington
Destination State IN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 9 2004 5:40PM
User who most recently changed record DINC
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 27
Runway Length 5001
Runway Width 75
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --