Mooney down in Angel Fire, no survivors

Very, very sad, and avoidable.

I've flown in and our of Angel Fire several times (as pax) years ago... and skied there.

Wind can be incredible there... blows your car all over the highway, ditto your plane.

Had a cabin at Valle Escondido, just a few miles down 64 toward Taos.


Do you know what kind of plane?

 

Very sad,especially with people so young and a child. I really feel for the poor dad. But 50 knot cross winds! You also wonder about wind shear. It will be interesting to see the official accident report After the investigation is done.

 

And Taos is only about 20 miles away.

 

AirNav says the runway at Angel Fire is 17/35.
I assume the Mooney took off on 17 with the winds out of 240 at 34 kts (39.1 mph) gusting to 45 kts (51.8 mph)
That's a 70 degree xwind angle.

.

 

4 people (even with one or two smaller individuals), fuel, and baggage (you don't go skiing with an overnight bag) also means this airplane was very near or at gross.

Very sad, and a reminder to us all.

 

What flying that I did here in the mountains on the west coast taught me some hard lessons and one has to think about the wind on every flight and where you are as far as terrain is considered. It can be your friend on the weather side of a rise and a deadly enemy on the lee side of a ridge where down drafts and rotors have no respect for an airplane of any size. I was barely successful getting into an airport in Redding, California during a violent cold front and rain storm. When we left several days later during climb out I happened to look in the brush far to the side of the runway and there was the wreckage of a Swift that was victim to the crosswind of the same storm. The gang at Enterprise airport never mentioned it when we were there and I learned about it after a phone call to them after our return. Flying in mountainous country should be carefully studied before flying in it, even on sunny days.

 

Aint that the truth. Very sad story..

 

pilot's fb page: https://www.facebook.com/Tablor?fref=ts

"Just updated my logbook and am happy to report I've crossed a milestone - 510.9 hours total time. Looking forward to the next 500!"

Sad.

 

what was the pilot thinking ?....

unstable winds, a 200 HP engine NA AT SEA LEVEL, payload at or approaching limits... he did not have a single thing going for him in his favor...

field elevation is 8300'... the engine being normally asperated was not making full power at that altitude, his climb ability was minimal even under ideal conditions, throw in serious wind shear and he had essentially nothing to work with,

with wind shear a plane can be flying at good numbers, while a second later the numbers can be all wrong, it takes a lot of power to maintain and altitude AGL to get though, throw in a few mountains to stir the wind up even more, the enviornment was a definite no go, and a HELL NO in that Mooney... conditions exceeded that plane's capabilities...

gusting cross winds are more about maintaining control while on the ground, a gust of wind can put a plane into numbers where it can fly, as fast as a gust comes on it can leave, causing the airplane not to have enough speed to fly... a plane needs power to accelerate quickly to a flying speed not including the gust... which is why planes have limits for crosswinds, the plane runs out of contols to maintain direction...

 

Are we speculating that this accident was due to lack of climb performance, or rather from loss of control due to the crosswind or wind gusts just past the end of the runway?

The report above seems to indicate it was down only a quarter of a mile from the end of the runway...

 

I agree about the crosswind issue - that would likely have been within the length of the runway if it were this alone...but a quarter of a mile past the runway is only seconds, and could hardly have been normal climb (crosswind or not) and terrain avoidance.

I am starting to wonder if this were not just as simple as an overloaded plane, pulled up into flight without airspeed enough (and in a Xwind), and then just stalled/mushed in moments later?

 

RIP to victims. But I feel for the Father (and Mother) who lost both their children and only grandchild. Sad.

And the airport manager, too.

 

There was a 6 person 'fatal' into Taos, many years ago, took some Houston flight instructors, as well as Miss Rockwear........

Drugs and bad judgement........mountains no place to play.

RIP to them all...I lost a close family friend to a return leg of a ski trip.
Everyone is tired.....