Mooney M20J down Sedona KSEZ

CT4ME

CT4ME

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A Mooney M20J with 3 aboard didn't quite negotiate a landing in Sedona today. The plane went off the plateau to the south, but all 3 survived. It was quite windy today, with the airport reporting winds around 18G28 from the South. As many of you know, the mechanical turbulence can be tricky in that area. According to news reports, quoting the FAA, neither the FAA or NTSB will dispach investigators, because of the shutdown.
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/regio...es-at-sedona-airport-no-reports-of-fatalities
http://www.azfamily.com/news/Small-plane-crashes-at-Sedona-Airport-226984321.html

ps... it seems like this happens about once or twice a year.
 
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They are so lucky. That is not a forgiving place to overrun at all.
 
newaerialfullksez.jpg
 
Must have been the "vortex". :rofl:

Been in there a couple of times. It can be tricky if you don't compensate for turbulence. Landing on the numbers is not a good idea.:nono:

Great Picture Tim! :yes:

Great FBO crew. Very accommodating with the crew car.

Exceptional flying experience in the Sedona area. Absolutely love it.
 
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Geico266 said:
Must have been the "vortex". :rofl:

Been in there a couple of times. It can be tricky if you don't compensate for turbulence. Landing on the numbers is not a good idea.:nono:
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I'd guess aiming for a touchdown point 1/3 down the runway would be wise.
 
I love SEZ. All ya'll PPL's within range should make a pilgrimage. Try to time it to land just before sunset and the setting sun will light the place up. A landing you'll never forget.

Anyone remember that crazy lady who was trying to shut the place down? Said she had jet exhaust in her breakfast nook every day all day? We totally jacked up her little local newspaper poll online as I recall by swamping it. I wonder what happened to her and her cause...
 
People make the same mistake there as at Catalina. Go ahead and aim for the numbers and keep your speed where it's supposed to be, the edge doesn't come up and smite you. Mechanical turbulence isn't going to shoot you down below the threshold while you're still 20' over it and if you are 1.3 Vso you aren't going to stall and drop out of the sky on gust factors. Just keep a hand on the throttle and you'll be fine.
 
Henning said:
People make the same mistake there as at Catalina. Go ahead and aim for the numbers and keep your speed where it's supposed to be, the edge doesn't come up and smite you.
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Hmm. I was landing 19G26 direct xwind at an airport with a big low area before the threshold and aimed at the numbers. Attempts 1 & 2 resulted in a go around. On the 3rd downwind I decided to try aiming for 1/3 down the 5000ft runway. Success.
 
Captain said:
I love SEZ. All ya'll PPL's within range should make a pilgrimage. Try to time it to land just before sunset and the setting sun will light the place up. A landing you'll never forget.

Anyone remember that crazy lady who was trying to shut the place down? Said she had jet exhaust in her breakfast nook every day all day? We totally jacked up her little local newspaper poll online as I recall by swamping it. I wonder what happened to her and her cause...
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My flight school takes all their students there on the long dual XC. Though we don't do it solo, an excellent place to take students IMO, and it's beautiful! I am a "aim for the 1000ft markers and go a little beyond them" at Sedona kind of person. It's also semi-important to note that typically in Sedona you land uphill and takeoff downhill, so if there are several airplanes landing/departing the arrangement can be a bit tricky.
 
I've flown in there a few times in the Comanche and Cherokee and it seems like I've always come in rwy 21 and a bit past the numbers maybe 50' not much more than that and always ready for a go around if gusty. There is a good uplifing wind just as you approach the numbers so it could be good for 100' down the runway. I definitely do not aim far down the runway.

I think 17 knots gusting winds are normal there.

It is a cool place to land and it feels like a air craft carrier as it is on a mesa. Thus the uplifting winds on both ends. with a 5000' runway I am so far up by the time I cross the other end on take off I do not remember any winds of any kind.

This does remind me of the pretty green Mooney J that went off the end of the runway at Catalina a few years back. He was taking off after a dinner as I recall with another couple from John Wayne or Long Beach.
 
If you aim for the numbers, by the time you round out and slow down, you'll be touching down 1/3rd of the way down the runway.
 
Henning said:
If you aim for the numbers, by the time you round out and slow down, you'll be touching down 1/3rd of the way down the runway.
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Only if you're coming in hot. I don't come in hotter in an xwind, I still fly my number. Otherwise the Mooney will float into next week.
 
Mooney is unforgiving of coming in fast. They're lucky.
 
Reminds me of CRW. Thing sits on top of a hill just like Sedona. Not quite as high, of course, and the turbulence is no big deal. Still, aim for the numbers and keep your speed up and you won't have a bad day. I always have to land long there as the FBO is on the other side of the field.

Don't mind your airspeed on landing and you can have a bad day at any airport in any aircraft.
 
Bill Jennings said:
I'd guess aiming for a touchdown point 1/3 down the runway would be wise.
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The Mooney went off the departure end, not the approach end.
Yes you can get sinking air on approach, that's what the touch deon aim point markers are for. But going off the far end, it seems to me he pushed a bad approach landing in cross winds a bit too far.
 
I have never landed there .. BUT... if someone cannot land a singe engine plane on a 5000 foot long runway and get it stopped before the end then they need to quit flying..:yes::rolleyes: Geez.........:mad2:
 
Second article linked by the OP says this happened during an attempted go-around... cleared a fence past the end of the runway, but then apparently dropped into the ravine.
If that is correct, I'd say he just waited too long to abort, horsed it over the fence, and stalled it at the edge of the cliff. Maybe sinking air was a factor, but he definitely waited too long.
Glad to hear they all survived, though! :)
 
That doesn't even make sense there... As soon as you clear the fence you can put the nose down for a good bit to pick up airspeed.
 
Captain said:
I love SEZ. All ya'll PPL's within range should make a pilgrimage. Try to time it to land just before sunset and the setting sun will light the place up. A landing you'll never forget.

Anyone remember that crazy lady who was trying to shut the place down? Said she had jet exhaust in her breakfast nook every day all day? We totally jacked up her little local newspaper poll online as I recall by swamping it. I wonder what happened to her and her cause...
Click to expand...

This x2. The view on approach is priceless.
 
We flew in there on our first western swing in the RV10 last year.

Being a kind of "you should check out Sedona" destination, it would seem to attract a lot of pilots who may not have much experience at a hot and high airport. These folks were German tourists renting out of Phoenix according to the 2nd article. At least I had a chance to go thru Santa Fe and ABQ before KSEZ.

Nothing special really required except paying more attention to your ASI over your eyeballs when close to the ground. And of course everything is far away when approaching this mesa top strip until you get over the threshold. And on an unexpected go around, things are going to appear faster than they are. So clear the fence as it rushes past at Vx and dump the nose towards the mesquite....

I just went back and looked at a video we shot departing KSEZ. We had a gorgeous passenger in the front seat taking pictures with both hands, i.e. a distraction, and I'm still new to the plane. It's hot so I'm doing the checklist as we taxii in order to expedite some fresh air. Caught myself getting ready to do an intersection takeoff on 21 (!!) followed by a quick U-turn as I apparently came to my senses.

The following week a Duke ran off the end killing everybody in a ball of fire.

Nothing special required to operate there but it is a little less than a mile long, a mile high with eye candy in all directions.
 
The NTSB and aircraft accident investigation is not an essential service, but park rangers to remove drinking fountain handles is? That's interesting.

Glad they survived....Mooneys are tough.
 
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