NTSB DEN83LA225 — 1983-09-30 · LA JUNTA, Colorado, United States

Current FAA registration · N3280F

Make / Model: MOONEY M20F
Year of manufacture: 1967 · 16 years old at event
Engine: LYCOMING I0360 SER (180 hp)
Seats / Engines: 4 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date: 19670619
ADS-B equipped: Yes — Mode-S A38E66

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

N3280F Mooney M20F None

Factual narrative

THE ACFT STALLED INTO THE GROUND DURING A TAKEOFF IN WINDY CONDITIONS. THE WINDS WERE REPORTED TO BE FROM 210 DEGREES AT 22 KTS GUSTING TO 28 KTS. THE PLT RECEIVED A WEATHER BRIEFING FROM THE FSS AND KNEW A STRONG CROSSWIND FROM THE LEFT WAS PRESENT. HE USED RUDDER BUT NO AILERON DURING TAKEOFF. HE SAID THE ACFT LIFTED OFF AT 70 MPH AND AT 10 FT IN THE AIR'A GUST OR SHEAR' HIT THE ACFT. THE PLANE TURNED 90 DEGREES TO THE LEFT, LOST AIRSPEED AND SETTLED TO THE GROUND. THE LEFT WING MADE GROUND CONTACT FIRST. THE ACFT SLID ACROSS A DITCH AND CAME TO REST 60 FT FROM THE SOUTH EDGE OF THE RWY.THE FAA FLT TRAINING HANDBOOK STATES THAT FULL AILERON SHOULD BE HELD INTO THE WIND AS TAKEOFF STARTS. THIS POSITION IS HELD UNTIL SUFFICIENT AIRSPEED IS OBTAINED AND THEN USED AS REQUIRED TO KEEP WINGS LEVEL. TAKEOFF POWER CREATED TORQUE OR P-FACTOR WHICH YAWS THE ACFT TO THE LEFT AND A WIND FROM THE LEFT MAY AGGREVATE THE LEFT TURNING TENDENCY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1983_DEN83LA225.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 (stall). All research papers