Note: I'm referring to the sheet metal joint on the wing NOT the continuous wing spar.

Absolutely brilliant evaluation. The crash location is 3 miles from our house and family friend witnessed the crash. It indeed was overcast at the time of the accident with showers and heavier weather at times throughout the day. I’ve flown thousands of hours from KFCM and your explanation was exactly what I’ve shared with friends and neighbors. I’m retired from Delta/Northwest with 41 years and 30k hours. Well done as usual Juan, blue side up.

Thanks for keeping us posted Juan.

The NTSB spokesman stated that the plane had been descending at over 5,000 fpm before the crash, and also advised that pieces of the left hand horizontal stab and elevator were found two blocks away from the impact area. The spokesman also said there was some data available from the aircraft. It looks like it was what you said. A loss of situational awareness followed by the high rate of descent, and a last minute hard pull that overstressed the aircraft. This reminds me of an airshow I went to many years ago at Dobbins AFB. The local ANG had one of their F-4's on display. Someone walked up and asked the guy behind the rope if the Phantom was an "all weather" aircraft. The GBTR replied: "Yes, the F-4 is an all weather aircraft, but the pilots are not always all weather pilots.." . So true. A good pilot always knows his limitations...and his aircraft's. Another good report, Juan.

I used to work at a Mooney repair shop. It would take ALOT to fold the wings up. They are a very strong airframe.!!

Just a note to those of you that think this is all just snuff entertainment. We pilots want to know every little detail of this kind of thing so we don't repeat it. Especially when you're riding with us.

Whether you’re covering fire, drought or aircraft, you do a GREAT job.

Thanks Juan for covering these types of GA accidents, while unfortunate we can all learn from them. As you noted, the Mooney is sleek, fast and sexy looking, but as attractive as those attributes are they can work against you if you’re not on top of your game. Reminds us that while we may have an Instrument rating, instrument proficiency and experience in actual IMC is critical, especially in a high performance single like the Mooney. I remember my first instructors warning when I expressed interest in the Mooney, “fast, but unforgiving.”

Another sad state of events JB. Very sad RIP to the surgeon and his family. Thanks for your updates and new reporting. Take care and fly safe. 🖖🏽🤟🏽

Excellent job! Ur explanations are very insightful and ur experience shows up every time u report on these unfortunate accidents. Keep up the great work.

Horrible year for GA accidents. Thank you for your report and analysis Juan.

I was flying my Cessna 140 with a retired UAL Captain in the right seat. I was doing some maneuvres just learned and lost control. That airplane got up to 160 mph very quick. My passenger was coaching me not to pull up too hard. I was extremely amazed how fast that airplane accelerated going straight down. Learned a good lesson.

I’ve been a passenger in a MOONEY on several occasions with a pilot friend of mine, it’s a great little airplane, really fast, a bit tight inside but comfortable, again Juan thanks for helping us non aviators to fully understand what happened in this unfortunate accident

Thank you for the analysis and information. So sad. May they RIP 😞

Thank you for this excellent report, as usual. I would struggle to appreciate the details in most reports anywhere else. My condolences to anyone affected or close to the victims. My hope is that this will contribute to some additional safety measures being added to the aviation community, in particular for this size of aircraft.

Thanks for the excellent video, Juan. I wondered if you would cover this one. The two passengers were a well-known couple from my home town.

Let me tell you what it's like for a very low time (approx 100 hrs) newly licensed pilot to fly into a cloud at night. Scenario - I was stationed in New Orleans in the mid 1960s on active duty with the Coast Guard and got my Private SEL at New Orleans Lakefront airport. I loved to fly at night and was gung-ho about learning about instrument flying. I would occasionally fly out over Lake Pontchartrain at night on clear VFR nights to simulate instrument flight. One night, I was flying a Cessna 172 with a couple of non-pilot Coast Guard buddies out west of New Orleans. Suddenly, the cockpit was lit up with the reflection of my outside navigation lights from inside a cloud. I immediately went on the instruments and started a standard rate left turn. During the course of the turn, my muscles tightened up in my arms and it felt like I was putting about 50 lbs of forward pressure on the yoke to keep the instruments right. I didn't dare look away from the instrument panel until one of my passengers said he could see a light. The instruments were saying one thing and my body wanted to do something else and it was both mentally and physically very stressful. After getting clear of the cloud, I noticed that despite my virtual downforce, I had climbed about 100 ft during the turn-around. It was an unbelievably scary experience.

Excellent analysis with little to no speculation as the video and pictures showed the wings folded up and the pieces of the aircraft found away from the crash site. What cannot be known is what the pilot was thinking or wat control inputs were made. We do know there was some kind of structural failure. Good job Juan.

Excellent as always Juan. This happened a few miles from my home, and even closer to my workplace. The crash site is located next to a local bar that would have been very busy on Saturday, a few yards east and there could have been incredible loss of life.

As a ground kissing pax, always appreciate what can be learned on this channel. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Blanco! I'm not a pilot but I've always been interested in aviation and a love for aircraft. These crash evaluations are heartbreaking but necessary. If I were a pilot, these reports would be a crucial learning tool to keep from having the same misfortune.

Professional and informative as always. Thank you Juan. Condolences to Family, friends and loved ones R.I.P. ✝️ Blessings ✝️

A LOT of crashes lately...disturbing. Keeping you busy man! Thanks for your updates.

I can confirm he's held his PPL well before 2016. The FAA database shows the most recent update/change to your certificate. I believe it's likely the Instrument rating was added in 2016.

As always I have been waiting for your report. Thanks for explaining this accident in terms we all can understand. As for the atc being asked for help, when was the last time you told a doctor how to preform brain surgery and he listened!! Thanks for all you do!

I lost the engine on an e model in February, 100 feet off the ground shortly after take off. Landed on a highway overpass. Rear ended a car.

This has all the hallmarks of spatial disorientation resulting in a spiral dive and overstressing and structural failure. Look at the FR24 path in three dimensions and you’ll see it. Several maneuvers including heading and altitude changes, then a spiraling, descending turn to the left just before impact. Here are the ASOS and METARs from Glencoe and Flying Cloud at that time: KGYL 072235Z AUTO 06007KT 10SM OVC008 23/21 A2977 RMK AO2 T02270205 KFCM 072235Z AUTO 08010KT 10SM OVC011 22/19 A2977 RMK T02200190 MADISHF KFCM 072240Z AUTO 08008KT 10SM OVC011 22/19 A2977 RMK T02200190 MADISHF And it’s not much different for the several hours before and after the accident. Turbulence from departing/decaying thunderstorm outflow could certainly be a factor in the initial upset, but I doubt it. To support the possible (but unlikely) thunderstorm outflow hypothesis, I will point out an additional ASOS report from KFCM ~30 minutes prior to the accident: KFCM 072215Z AUTO 08011KT 10SM OVC011 22/20 A2977 RMK T02200200 LTG DSNT S! MADISHF This storm was 20-30 miles SE of KFCM and there was no discernible outflow to the west on radar (reflectivity or velocity). I’m thinking more task-saturation and spatial disorientation in IMC while maneuvering for the approach.

Just would like to say Dr.Edney was a tenant at the Millard Airport were iam employed. It always hits you hard when you know the pilot in these incidents, no matter what the issue were. Thank you for you incite!

Another great informative video, thanks Juan.

I live a few miles from Flying Cloud and fly out of there often. Saturday morning we had thunderstorms in the area, but by afternoon, it was just off and on light rain and 1000 foot ceilings. For that reason I doubt any break up was induced by turbulence.

Great job Juan. I'm not an IFR pilot but owned a M20 with the 200hp and logged over 1200 hours in 7 years with never an incident. I knew my limitation and respected the characteristics of this slippery aircraft. If you're not on your game, this aircraft will fly you.

just because youre IFR certified doesnt mean that you should go out looking for trouble. this one hurts more than most

Thanks for another video!

Sad to hear. I'm just learning about aviation and i watch every one of your videos religiously. Thank you for all you do.

Deepest condolences to family and loved ones. So sad. Such grief.

Instead of voluntarily training in the simulator every six months, I now train in the simulator with my instrument flight instructor every other month. Even though the insurance company doesn’t care about my proficiency.

My sympathies to the pilot and his family passengers. According to our local newspaper in Kalispell, MT, the passengers were the pilot's stepson and the stepson's wife. The wife was a physician in Libby, MT and the stepson worked for the local county health department. In 1992, I was partners with two physicians in an A-36 Bonanza. One of them died in a very similar weather-related crash at Peachtree-Dekalb airport north of Atlanta, GA. He was not instrument rated and flew into low ceiling and visibility at night on a return trip from Florida. Fortunately, he was alone. Having a good autopilot and the knowledge of how to use it is a must in single-pilot complex airplane operations. It could save your life unless the weather is extreme.

The fellow who sold me my 172 died that way. He purchased a 210, and tried to duck out of a cloud, as he had been able to do in the Cessna 172. There’s a big difference between doing that at 100 mph and 250 mph. . .

Learning later in life immediately puts you on the back foot. Experience in life is not sufficient to overcome inexperience in the air. Also you get considerably less bold as you get older and to be honest, many older pilots are a pain in the arse with instructors and examiners. This often means the scary bits of flying are not taught in as much depth as they should be and too many are passed when maybe they should not. I can remember many times when I flew and had an attack of the leans and I have also lost control in the air (through gross stupidity). Each of these was a learning experience that made me a better pilot. Where age and relative inexperience bites you in the arse is not recognising when things are starting to go wrong and not taking the correct action when they do. ps. Experience is not long haul 30,000 hours with two landings every month, it’s 30,000 flights in various conditions over various terrains.

As a complete bystander just listening in on these conversations, I am more and more amazed at the volume and quantity (and seriously irreversible consequences) of variables, "must do", "must not do", etc. that are dealt with even by experienced pilots, either airline professionals or GA like this 72 year old. Life and death skills required in multi-tasking--with a very high price tag if the pilot gets behind or gets confused.

Sad news for all involved. Silver lining is It’s a miracle no one on the ground was injured. It crashed in the only area that didn’t have people or a building.

Accident aircraft has a previous incident on record--an off runway excursion; ran off end of runway during an emergency landing.

Honestly, if there weren't pictures of the wing folded up, I wouldnt believe it. I've only got a few dozen hours in Moonies and I couldn't think of a better, more solid design. It was always a pleasure flying them.

I’m 70 now and don’t even drive my car on bad weather days. I’m still fearless, not foolish🤠

I think this is the first time I've heard of someone breaking a Mooney wing spar in flight... I've heard of two incidents where the pilot pulled north of 10Gs and landed alive... Usually the tail surfaces separate from flutter before the wing can be loaded enough to break it.

Thankyou for explaining the planes structure limitations and the effect of going outside that envelope. 📈

The tail has to go away first, either the elevator or horizontal, aircraft pitches up or down then the wings fold, seen it before, when pieces are not at the accident site

Excellent report, thank you.

I’m a Mooney owner, too. Very strong and well made. Took a lot of G to break one up in flight. Very sad to hear this report.

I quit flying in 2006 but while I was an active PPL, between the years of 1998 and 2006, I don't recall hearing as much as I hear now about so many GA crashes. Perhaps, as information now spreads lightning fast, thanks to KZfaq, LiveATC, etc., it only seems that there are a lot more GA crashes these days as compared to the pre-KZfaq days. Fly safe, everyone!

Saw the damage from a similar incident about 10 years ago with the exact same make and model of aircraft. The pilot survived the incident but the plane was beyond repair with wings rippled outboard of the landing gear at basically the same place that the wings separated in the accident you are describing. The pilot stated the plane went into a stall and descended over 9000 feet before he was able to gain control just before impact to the ground near the airport and he was able to land safely. The pilot stated in this incident that on a instrument approach to the airport a autopilot malfunction put the plane in a sudden pitch up situation. When being disassembled, the salvage company employee stated he had never seen a Mooney with wings bent that close to separation.

I just looked at that pilots last few flights on flightaware and they didn't look very good. Lots of airspeed and altitude changes flight paths were not very stable. Mechanical problem getting worse? Rusty pilot? I am wondering whether this uptick in GA accidents can be attributed to rusty pilots due to lack of flying during the pandemic.

Looking at the door cam video the wing looks intact as the Mooney is falling, tail low, about the height of the roof to the left. In the next frame the tail is just touching the ground and the wings both appear to have folded straight up into a vertical position.

Thank you for an informative review of this incident.

I’ve always wondered could the wings collapse due to a massive microburst?

✈✈✈ Did my own close look at this accident this morning as part of my ongoing independent research, saw something that no one else has mentioned so far. It appears that just before the loss of control, the altitude is held perfectly while the groundspeed decays to something really slow just after leveling off after a descent. My best early guess is that the pilot pulled the power back for the descent, let the autopilot level the airplane, then he forgot to add power when the airplane leveled. Speed decayed, then a stall or at least an autopilot disconnect while in IMC, and at that point the pilot let speed build up then pulled back and overstressed the airframe.

Juan. Would you think about teaching us what you mean by fast and efficient small aircraft, as it relates to loss of control in IMC? When we are training under the hood in a Cessna 172 or Piper Warrior, we loose concentration in a turn the nose drops and we can find ourselves 30 knots faster and 200 feet lower before the instructor says something. He is trying to see if the student notices and what the student will do when they realize their mistake. How much faster does a Mooney or Bonanza gain speed when the same mistake is made in those aircraft? It is substantial. Maintaining a solid approach in a 172, 182 or Cherokee is much easier and much more forgiving than a Mooney I think

Juan, I haven't seen anything on the Cessna 310 in your Blancolirio pages. Did you strike a deal on that aircraft?

Used to use an M20 as an instrument trainer -complex aircraft for a flight school. Liked it.

SO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS PRAYING 🙏 FOR THE FAMILY. So SAD

Another Great Report,,,, Sad,,, But Great Job Juan,,,,

My Dad got into a situation in his '82 A-36 Bonanza where he encounter a vertical wind shear that threw him up 2k feet then dropped him down 3k feet in a vertical dive all while IFR he was lucky to pull out of this situation by the skin of his teeth and finally leveling out at about 500 agl. The only evidence of the situation was two small wrinkles on the underside of the wings. And yes a full inspection was done on the airframe. That bird if still flying today. Maybe this poor fellow encountered a similar situation.....

Good analysis and a warning that even as low as 2,500 of altitude, modern aircraft can build speed quickly. Sounds as though this pilot would have benefitted from more autopilot instruction.

hi iam i to believe that an aircraft with a lower va in relation to its vne is not as strong? had been look at an rv9 but is the rv14 much stronger? or iam i over thinking it?

The M20 has a carry-through wing spar - no joints. Incredible loads are needed to fold it, I didn't know that was possible. That must've been quite a spiral and given the elevator was sheared off, guessing that the reaction was to pull back on the column.

The pilot of 56Z, a good friend, normally did very meticulous radio work. His contacts with tower on this flight were uncharacteristically skimpy to the point that it's clear to me that he was distracted in the closing minututes of this relatively straightfoward and not-particularly-challenging ILS approach in relatively non-challenging weather, and a flight that he had made (KAXN to KFCM) at least 5 times that I know of in the preceding couple of weeks and many times prior to that. The flight appears to have been routine, right up until it wasn't, on approach. Taking it all together, I have to wonder whether or not he suddenly found himself having to work an unexpected problem at the most critical aspect of the flight. Autopilot failure, AI failure, suction failure...I don't know but to me that makes more sense than just Kobe Bryant-level spatial disorientation. He was an experienced, long-time pilot who flew a lot. Something like loss of attitude instrumentation in the clouds is something to ponder in this case.

An IFR-rated PPL tends to be a risky proposition. Shooting an ILS at most every few months is simply insufficient practice for the real deal - unexpectedly entering dubious weather with such limited experience can lead to an accident like this. Retaining genuine IFR proficiency calls for very frequent exposure to IMC conditions. "Every now and then" simply does not cut it.

Oh Juan I’m so sorry to hear this. Goodness. Any is too many.💔

Physics is nature's hardliner. It does not give in. I cringed at the sight of the way the wings folded. It's double sad when family members perish with the pilot.

As a Rocket owner, Ill be following this... I have and use an autopilot, but in addition to that, whenever I am IFR, I always have my G5 in ADI mode so that I have two horizons, one vacuum driven and one solid state. Do not take IFR lightly folks. Also, I cannot recommend a stormscope and ADS-b weather capabilities enough.

I’m a physician and was told by a wise old physician once, “Doctors should never fly airplanes” “So never buy one or I’ll kick your ass!” He was referring to doctors not having the time that it takes to train properly. I agree.

Saw that video…made me sick to my stomach. Had the exact same assessment when I got that door video paused at the point where the tail was just touching the ground. Could clearly see both wings folded. Without trying to “arm chair pilot” I commented that either simple structural failure, or pilot induced structural failure. Don’t think it’ll take too long for the NTSB to male a determination on this one though. My condolences to the victims loved ones & friends.

As a former GA pilot, I have always seriously questioned the ability for most non-commercial pilots to safely perform single pilot IFR flights, especially with the older “steam gauge” flight instruments. I know in my own experience, I would often enlist a second experienced, instrument rated pilot to accompany me on flights where weather could require approaches to minimums. Glass cockpits, IFR certified GPS and a good autopilot can do a great deal to lesson the pilot workload in IMC. Instrument flying is serious business. Too often pilots with relatively low time and ample financial resources get in over their head quickly in such situations. Knowing your personal limitations and NEVER EXCEEDING them is the key to staying alive.

Ugh its perplexing when all the instruments are right in front of you. Wings level consistent altitude and airspeed. Rip doc and family 🙏

Thanks, Juan!

I owned an 1989 M20-M. They are very capable planes. I don’t think any of them didn’t come without an autopilot, dual batteries, dual alternators, backup vacuum system, speed brakes and everything modern at the time of manufacture. We of course don’t know what updated equipment was on board. The ILS approach for this shouldn’t have been a big deal, a functional autopilot could do most of the work. The key word here is functional. Slowly decaying HSI with vacuum loss could be a good cause and I had it happen to me in visual conditions. I also had a runaway trim and also in visual conditions and very hard to lower the nose. RIP. Hopefully we find the cause.

Experiencing disorientation once or twice in my life, the recovery is very difficult.

Juan - I really enjoy the channel and the in depth analysis you do. Would you consider doing a video on the BRS and how these latest two accidents could’ve been affected had a BRS been used ??? Also - Have you considered a BRS for your personal aircraft ? Why or why not ??? Thanks - PNR

Those Mooney King autopilots will fail on you at the worst possible times. I was piloting a Mooney M20K once, and the engage switch for the King autopilot is an electromagnetic switch, which when energized becomes magnetized and fastens to a metal bar to stay on presumably during turbulence. Well said switch must have developed a bad electrical connection, and did not stay magnetized for very long, and promptly disengages with no warning. So when flying any aircraft in IMC, always remember to do your basic scanning often, and expect the autopilot to fail at anytime. Poor souls, RIP.

This has been discussed a bit on Mooneyspace. One contributing factor may have been, he appeared to be flying an approach for 10L, but was then cleared to land 10R. If he’d dialed in the approach into one of his WAAS Garmins, autopilot may have started flying him back towards a fix for that approach, adding to workload saturation and possibly spatial disorientation...

A Mooney is a strong plane. I've never heard of anyone breaking one up. Maybe that led him to a false sense of security, where he knew he was too fast, and knew there was a risk, but he thought the plane could handle it. Va is a thing, even in a Mooney. Incredibly sad story.

Could a micro-burst downdraft from the weather cause the wings to fold like that?

Would lik e to know hours flown, Currency, etc.

Hi, could you explain what you mean with the yellow and red line ?

Does it look like the engine and or prop are missing in the near ground pic?

How many Gs IS THEIR DESIGN LIMITATIONS?

If I was the DTSB, I’d be thinking spatial disorientation in the clouds and over stress from trying to pull out of a high-speed dive, in panic. 🙁

So many crashes this year..unbelievable...

What's the g rating for those

I think I saw that plane at the MAPA pilot proficiency program at Atlantic City in 2019. Damn.

The V-tailed doctor killer comment reminds me of all the signage put up on the mountain roads around Brisbane Qld. Middle-aged blokes on powerful motorcycles don't make the bends as they might have done in their youth when such machines were out of reach.

What kind of g force would they have experienced on the way down?

I recently found that a piper malibu plane N444DT crashed almost a year ago. I'm not an invited reader of Kathryn's Report and can't seem to find information anywhere else about this plane.

Thank You from La Pine Oregon

Maybe they should have dive brakes for getting out of overspeed situations? (Maybe even something single-use, like some kind of drag chute?)

Thanks for posting this video.

Well the original V-35 Bonanza was 165 hp 160 mph plane had a 14 inch long fixed portion the V-tail then they extended it to 2-inches with no fed spar until the stub spar and cuff AD mod mid came out in 1986 the Va speeds were limited to under 145 mph

Mature analysis as usual. Thanks Juan.

TY, jb...I hope a preliminary is released soon.

Hey Juan, I have a still image that shows wings still intact at 20 feet above the ground.