FTW04CA177 · Mooney M20R
Mooney M20R · Accident: in flight encounter with weather during landing
From San Antonio International Airport (SAT) to Kerrville, TX
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's departure or destination. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW04CA177
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Mooney M20R
- Aircraft type
- Mooney M20
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N9147H
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route Possible conflict
- From San Antonio International Airport (SAT), San Antonio, TXTo Kerrville, TX
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Landing
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- In flight encounter with weather
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Compensation for wind conditions, improper
Approximate · Coordinates from the NTSB case API, which marks them as estimated or does not say; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot was practicing approaches into the airport, planned a full stop and layover until the weather conditions improved at the destination airport. The pilot stated that the localizer approach for runway 30 was flown with the VASI lights indicating slightly high. The airplane was "established and stable" on the approach. The pilot noted that his speed over the threshold was 80 knots, and at touchdown his speed was approximately 75 knots. The airplane "ballooned" with the right wing rising about 30 degrees, and full power was applied with right aileron and rudder. The airplane was turning left and sinking as it was accelerating. It touched down on the left wheel and bounced in the grass left of the runway. The nose of the airplane was lowered in an attempt to gain speed, but recovery from the left turn was not possible with the limited altitude. The pilot added that he appeared to have made the approach "into a localized microburst caused by unstable air in the area." Witnesses at the airport reported that "dramatic wind shifts" and gusty winds prevailed at the time of the accident. Examination of the airplane by the pilot revealed structural damage to the left wing. The automated weather service at Kerrville Municipal Airport (KERV), at 1525, reported the wind from 240 degrees at 6 knots, 10 statute miles visiblity, scattered ceiling at 8,000 feet, ceiling broken at 9,000 feet, and a barometric pressure setting of 30.02 inches of Mercury. The temperature was 77 degrees Fahrenheit, and the dew point was 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The remarks reported lightning distant south.
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to compensate for existing wind conditions. Contributing factors were the gusty high winds.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW04CA177
- Event ID
- 20040729X01093
- Case number
- FTW04CA177
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status, coordinates. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 2e60d42dd6fa7b32da53e13682268bb68305c5bfacc4c97a8613251115cc501a; retrieved 2026-09-22T07:15:40.386Z.