Centennial Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Englewood, Colorado 80112
Sunday, May 29, 2005 9:30 MDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

According to the pilot, he was in instrument meteorological conditions and climbing to his cruise altitude when the horizontal situation indicator (HSI) failed. He became disoriented, the airplane got into an unusual attitude, and he lost control of the airplane. When the airplane broke out of the clouds, it was descending rapidly, and he pulled back hard on the control yoke to arrest the descent. During the recovery, the airplane's structural limitations were exceeded and the airplane was overstressed. According to a telephone interview with a mechanic who replaced the HSI at Duncan Aviation, a repair shop located at APA, a plastic gear in the HSI was "stripped" and the heading bug caused the compass card to "hang-up."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane and the pilot's improper use of unusual attitude recovery procedure. Contributing factors were the failure of the HSI and the clouds.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 5/29/2005
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Mountain Daylight Time
Event City Englewood
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 80112
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 5
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 393412N
Event Location Longitude 1045057W
Event Location Airport Centennial Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID APA
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 5883
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 930 Mountain Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID APA
Elevation of weather observation facility 5883
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation MDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 1500
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 1500
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Thin Broken
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) 9
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 5
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.09
Density Altitude (feet) --
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 19156
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Feb 28 2006 12:35PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office DEN FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N928MB
NTSB Number DEN05LA139
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20K
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 25-0859
Certified Max Gross Weight 3200
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
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 Mar 1 2005 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 2706
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Martin Lawrence
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Newbury Park
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 91320
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 Newbury Park
Operator State CA
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 91320
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 APA
Departure City Englewood
Departure State CO
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 900
Departure Time Zone MDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code CMA
Destination City Camarillo
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Climb
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 16 2005 10:15AM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --