Fatal Sundridge, Ont., plane crash likely due to troubled landing attempt: report

[Scudrunner]

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/fata ... -1.5960148

[Colonel]

I am very familiar with both the M20J - used to own one - and that airport- used to routinely fly my Maule in and out of there, years ago.

Trying to say something constructive about this accident.

All I can observe is that flying a nosewheel aircraft does not absolve the need for a bare minimum of basic stick and rudder skill, which I have been harping about for decades.

I know that private pilots love to push buttons because they think it makes them Just Like A Four Bar, but every once in a while, you need to be able to fly an aircraft, if you're going to be a pilot. Sorry about that.

[Squaretail]

This accident reminds me of a Cessna I saw in the shop once, that was severely damaged, the fuselage was bent just behind the rear window, and the nosewheel was bent about 30 degrees backwards, bending all the structure behind it. It apparently had a "touch and go" with two severe bounces like this one, except after said crash and dash (literally) it flew 100 miles back home where the damage was assessed. Oh and of course the prop was struck and both wingtips were drug. Amazingly it was repaired and returned to service. One can't help but wonder what sort of damage was incurred in this "go around".

[Slick Goodlin]

One of the 172s I used to teach on had the same thing happen, except it was only flown about eight miles after the crash and dash.

[Colonel]

Crashing an airplane during a landing is like beating a dog and injuring it when you get home from work.

I don’t know why people do that, but don’t let me catch you doing it.

[JW Scud]

I believe the pilot had crashed a different Mooney previously. Left the intake plugs in and rejected the takeoff when things looked too hot. Bought another one and then trashed it on the go-around.

[Colonel]

Odd that TC didn’t ban that pilot from Canada.

[anofly]

most of us dont go around as often as we should... we get away with salvaging a moderately out of shape aircraft. sometimes the best decison is to go around early... not on bounce number 3....

[Colonel]

I found the M20J that we owned (and other Mooneys that I instructed on) to be a bit slippery. You could not disregard “the numbers” during your approach.

If you did, it was easy to end up at 100 mph at 200 feet which was much too fast. If you continued the approach you would enter ground effect and with those long low wings, you would float and float and float and burn runway like a Liberal burns taxpayer money.

When that happens, you CANNOT force the aircraft onto the ground. A porpoise is likely and we’re not talking a friendly one like Flipper. No, this porpoise is going to tear your landing gear off and wreck your prop and engine. Bad porpoise! Here’s a Cherokee doing that.



I know a guy wrecked a T-33 doing that.

When you are on short final in a Mooney substantially faster than your correct approach speed, you must overshoot because you cannot dissipate the excess energy.

I know. No one cares. Got that.

Note that while you cannot land a Mooney at 100 mph on short final in any reasonable runway distance (maybe at the Cape?) ….

You can land a Pitts going 200 mph on short final in a reasonable distance. Me, Sean, Freddy, Skip do it all the time. Ask any decent airshow pilot to land out of a surface loop.

Sometimes, it’s useful to learn about your airplane even if you’re not allowed in Canada any more.

[Slick Goodlin]

most of us dont go around as often as we should... we get away with salvaging a moderately out of shape aircraft.

The airlines did a study a few years ago and found the same: instances where their stable approach policy required a go-around were instead being salvaged into a safe landing. As a result there were changes made to many airlines’ stable approach guidelines allowing a lot more leeway to fix it.

I for one think it’s nice to see safety rules change to see some wiggle room and trust in the people you have to do the right thing.