NTSB CEN12CA461 — 2012-07-19 · Hutchinson, Minnesota, United States

Current FAA registration · N262RW

Make / Model: MOONEY M20K
Year of manufacture: 1982 · 30 years old at event
Engine: CONT MOTOR TSIO-360 SER (225 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19820107
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A287F7

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N262RW MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. M20K None

Probable cause & findings

The student pilot’s inadequate flare and failure to maintain directional control during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent impact with obstructions.

Factual narrative

The student pilot reported that the airplane bounced multiple times during landing and the airplane veered to the left. His efforts to correct the veer were unsuccessful, directional control was lost, and the airplane exited the left side of the runway. The airplane impacted a ditch, crossed a taxiway, impacted a second ditch, and came to rest upright. The airplane’s nose gear collapsed and the forward fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot also reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures. The student pilot reported that the airplane bounced multiple times during landing before the airplane veered to the left. His efforts to correct the veer were unsuccessful, and he lost directional control; the airplane then exited the left side of the runway. The airplane impacted a ditch, crossed a taxiway, impacted a second ditch, and came to rest upright. The airplane’s nose gear collapsed and the forward fuselage was substantially damaged. The student pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Student pilot - C
C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Landing flare-Not attained/maintained - C

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2012_CEN12CA461.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers