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Atlas / NTSB / ERA24LA366

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ERA24LA366

2024-08-30 Fairmont, West Virginia, United States Airport · 4G7 Serious 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N1005U

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

MOONEY M20K

Year of manufacture

1989 · 35 years old at event

Engine

CONT MOTOR TSIO-360 SER (225 hp)

Seats / Engines

4 seats · 1 engine

Last airworthiness date

19890413

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A007CE

Registrant of record

HAPKA MICHAEL

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s failure to attain the proper touchdown point, and his delay in aborting the landing.

Factual narrative

The pilot stated that while en route to his destination he diverted to an alternate airport due to low cloud cover. After reviewing the runway length at the diversion airport, he overflew it then entered the airport traffic pattern for landing. He turned onto the base and final legs of the airport traffic pattern, and while on final approach, he recognized the airplane was fast but continued the approach. He reported that the airplane touched down too far down the runway, with a witness indicating that the airplane touched down past the last crossing taxiway, which resulted in about 836 ft of runway remaining. After touchdown the pilot stated that he applied the airplane’s brakes momentarily, but in that instant, he knew he was fast and added power to abort the landing. The engine responded and he fully retracted the flaps. During the subsequent climb out, the airplane impacted trees and then the ground. The airplane’s fuselage and left wing were substantially damaged. The pilot stated 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

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

  • Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot
  • Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Descent/approach/glide path-Not attained/maintained
  • Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Identification/recognition-Pilot

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2024_ERA24LA366.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.