Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Catalina Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Avalon, California 90704
Monday, October 20, 2008 13:15 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane was taking off from an airport on top of a mountain, at 1,602 feet mean sea level, on a runway surrounded on three sides by cliff-like precipitous drop-offs. Shortly after liftoff the airplane began to wobble and perform in an unstable manner, making contact again with the runway at about 2/3 of its length. The airplane then veered left off the runway, traveling through a gravel infield area in a nose-high attitude with the main landing gear still on the ground. The airplane continued through the gravel before veering back onto the runway surface just before the pavement ended and the terrain dropped away steeply at the departure end. The airplane descended into the valley and collided with downward sloping terrain. The airplane was destroyed by postimpact fire. The uphill slope of the first 2/3 of the runway made it appear much shorter than it actually was. No obvious preimpact anomalies were noted with the airframe. The engine intake valve cam lobes exhibited wear that could have resulted in a reduction of engine power, but this reduction would have occurred progressively over an extended period of time prior to the accident. It was unclear whether a reduction in engine power could have significantly affected the airplane's performance. The gross weight could not be determined with certainty; however, the airplane was loaded on the inbound trip with the same amount of passengers and baggage as the accident flight, and fueling facilities did not exist at the accident airport. The autopsy results were consistent with a cardiac event suffered by the pilot at some point around the time of the accident, but the pilot had not reported any symptoms and was actively controlling the aircraft and speaking with the surviving passenger during the accident sequence.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain aircraft control during takeoff for undetermined reasons. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff while sufficient runway remained to stop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/20/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Avalon |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 90704 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 332405N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1182519W |
| Event Location Airport | Catalina Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AVX |
| 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 | 1602 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1251 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 70 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AVX |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1602 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| 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) | -2 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| 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) | 30.1 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 3 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25717 |
| NTSB Notification Source | LA County Sheriff |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2009 2:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N201EN |
| NTSB Number | WPR09FA019 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY |
| Aircraft Model | M20J |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 24-0140 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2740 |
| 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 | Jun 20 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3478 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Brian Roberts |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | CORONA |
| Aircraft Owner State | CA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 92882 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Charles M. Cowan |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Laguna Beach |
| Operator State | CA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 92651 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | AVX |
| Departure City | Avalon |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1315 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AJO |
| Destination City | Corona |
| Destination State | CA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 14 2009 1:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 22 |
| Runway Length | 3000 |
| Runway Width | 60 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |