LAX93LA339
1993-08-29 · EUREKA, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport O33
N353CK has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (GATES LEARJET CORP. 35A, built 1976), which was not involved in this event.
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's failure to attain the proper touch down point and the excessive airspeed.
Factual narrative
On August 29, 1993, at 1420 hours Pacific daylight time, a Mooney M- 20M, N353CK, landed long, exited runway 34, and collided with a dirt bank at Eureka Municipal Airport, Eureka, California. The pilot was completing a visual flight rules personal flight. The airplane, operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The certificated private pilot, the sole occupant, received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The flight departed Arcata, California, at 1400 hours. A pilot/witness reported to Mr. Kim Davies, Aviation Safety Inspector (Airworthiness), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Oakland [California] Flight Standards District Office, that he was flying in the traffic pattern at the time of the accident. He observed the airplane "touch down at midfield at a high speed." The airplane exited the north end of the runway and collided with a dirt bank. He also stated that the airplane over flew the airport two or three times before the accident. The pilot reported in a telephone interview conducted on January 18, 1994, that he has no independent recollection of the accident. THE AIRPLANE TOUCHED DOWN AT MIDFIELD ON A 2,700 FOOT LONG RUNWAY AT A HIGH AIRSPEED. THE AIRPLANE EXITED THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY AND COLLIDED WITH A DIRT BANK. THERE WERE NO REPORTED AIRPLANE MALFUNCTIONS OR FAILURES PRECEDING THE ACCIDENT. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1993_LAX93LA339.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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