Mooney down at Sky Manor

Mopauly

Mopauly

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Aug 15, 2015
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PA
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Paul Steklenski
heard upon returning from a 10 pup rescue flight today, didn't see it posted, don't know much more than 2 fatalities. Reports indicate possible go around attempt and stall.
 
Sad, my condolences. :(
 
Terrible news as always. I finished my private at Sky Manor, and more importantly spent practically every weekend of my childhood there.

Terrible that folks there enjoying what I can only imagine to be a lovely day had to witness the tragedy as well, there's always sizeable crowds there...
 
2900 x 50 ft runway. A slick plane like a Mooney coming in too hot would run out of runway pretty quickly. Very sad. Prayers for the families.

Alexia Hughes, a Bucks County, Pa. resident, said she was part of a large crowd watching planes take off and land outside the Sky Cafe restaurant at the airport. They saw a small plane try to land and come in too fast.

"Instead of aborting the landing, he continued to try to land and ran out of runway," she said.

The plane then pulled up, barely clearing trees at the end of the runway, Hughes said. It tilted up and to the left before losing lift and crashing.
 
Stingray Don said:
2900 x 50 ft runway. A slick plane like a Mooney coming in too hot would run out of runway pretty quickly. Very sad. Prayers for the families.

Alexia Hughes, a Bucks County, Pa. resident, said she was part of a large crowd watching planes take off and land outside the Sky Cafe restaurant at the airport. They saw a small plane try to land and come in too fast.

"Instead of aborting the landing, he continued to try to land and ran out of runway," she said.

The plane then pulled up, barely clearing trees at the end of the runway, Hughes said. It tilted up and to the left before losing lift and crashing.
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Gotta be on your numbers, anything faster than 65kts into 2900 is bad news. And if you're trimmed for 65kts, when you go around you need Popeye arms to hold the nose down until you get the trim forward.

RIP :(
 
Very sad.

I learned short field takeoff and landings there back before the runway was extended.
Originally it was around 2,500 feet. High-Tension Power Lines very close to approach end of Rwy 25.
 
Heard that this was attempt #3. Crash scene witness says that it looked like a classic stall / spin. One wing caught the ground, cartwheeled onto the other.
 
Well, I have heard many people here say that if you fly long enough, one of these will hit close to home. I guess for me it did not take to long. I went to take an IFR lesson this morning and found out much more about the accident. The Mooney being flown was based at my home field, and was rented out by the flight school I use. The pilot finished his PPL about 3 months before me, and I had met him on a few occasions, but would not say I know him well. My CFI was his CFI and also the pilot that had done his transition training for the Mooney.

The CFI and I had a fairly long conversation about what likely happened, as the FAA has already interviewed the school, him, and taken all the logs and records for the plane. Apparently the crash was witnessed by many people as this is a very busy airport for Sunday breakfast. One of the people that witnessed the crash is a second CFI from the flight school. The CFI said that cause has more or less been determined already. He is a little shaken and emotional by the events, and admitted that he is questioning himself if he could have done anything different during the course of training.

My condolences go out the the pilot and passenger.
 
I did part of my commercial training in this Mooney out of Robbinsville. Good, thorough flight instructors at their school too. Sad to see it close to home like others mentioned. Be safe out there.
 
drotto said:
Well, I have heard many people here say that if you fly long enough, one of these will hit close to home. I guess for me it did not take to long. I went to take an IFR lesson this morning and found out much more about the accident. The Mooney being flown was based at my home field, and was rented out by the flight school I use. The pilot finished his PPL about 3 months before me, and I had met him on a few occasions, but would not say I know him well. My CFI was his CFI and also the pilot that had done his transition training for the Mooney.

The CFI and I had a fairly long conversation about what likely happened, as the FAA has already interviewed the school, him, and taken all the logs and records for the plane. Apparently the crash was witnessed by many people as this is a very busy airport for Sunday breakfast. One of the people that witnessed the crash is a second CFI from the flight school. The CFI said that cause has more or less been determined already. He is a little shaken and emotional by the events, and admitted that he is questioning himself if he could have done anything different during the course of training.

My condolences go out the the pilot and passenger.
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The pain of the loss made so much worse with the what-if questions...
So sorry to hear that.
 
Stingray Don said:
2900 x 50 ft runway. A slick plane like a Mooney coming in too hot would run out of runway pretty quickly. Very sad. Prayers for the families.

Alexia Hughes, a Bucks County, Pa. resident, said she was part of a large crowd watching planes take off and land outside the Sky Cafe restaurant at the airport. They saw a small plane try to land and come in too fast.

"Instead of aborting the landing, he continued to try to land and ran out of runway," she said.

The plane then pulled up, barely clearing trees at the end of the runway, Hughes said. It tilted up and to the left before losing lift and crashing.
Click to expand...
Flying a mooney into 2900 feet should be easy provided you are familiar with the aircraft. It is easy to fly airplane provided you are familiar with it.I consistently flew one into 2200 feet and was checked out at this same airport. I usually flew 70 in the pattern, gear down, trimmed back and probably came across the numbers at 65. Easy. I should add that it took me about 10 hours to get used to it and feel somewhat comfortable. I did not carry passengers for about first 20 hours. I should add that I had a safety pilot check out with high hours in a mooney for three hours at this airport. It was about 20 hours before I flew a passenger.
 
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When I bought my Mooney five weeks after my PPL checkride, I kept it at a 3000' runway with trees at both ends. Now I've moved,and am based at a 3200' field with fewer, lower trees and a drop off tomthenriver immediately below a dam at one end. Neither one is a problem.
 
midcap said:
damn, sounds like he just needed more runway.
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I can't tell if you're commenting somewhat "tongue in cheek" or being serious, but what he needed was to know how to fly a Mooney. 2900 ft runway is plenty if you know what you're doing...
 
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