Mooney M20J accident near Petaluma, California, April 7, 2018

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot was departing the non-tower-controlled airport on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan. He received his IFR clearance before departure but the pilot never contacted air traffic control after takeoff. The wreckage was located about 4 hours later about 1 mile from the departure airport. A witness located at the departure airport watched the airplane depart and climb to about 300 ft above ground level (agl) before it initiated a shallow left turn and disappeared into the fog. The witness reported that there were no unusual sounds from the airplane during the takeoff, and that the engine sounded normal.  Instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) were present in the vicinity of the accident site at the time of the accident. In addition, AIRMETs were valid that warned of IFR conditions due to precipitation and mist and moderate turbulence below 10,000 ft. A possibility of light low-level wind shear (LLWS) was identified between the surface and 100 ft agl at the accident site. Multiple pilot reports in the area indicated cloud ceilings around 400-700 ft agl with moderate turbulence. However, the pilot obtained weather information about 6 hours before takeoff, which only included the AIRMETs and not the PIREPs indicated the cloud ceiling and turbulence. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The damage to the airplane indicated that it impacted the ground in a nose-down, near-vertical attitude consistent with an aerodynamic stall. Given the weather information available for the accident site around the time of the accident, the pilot likely encountered IMC with areas of turbulence and LLWS almost immediately after takeoff and did not maintain sufficient airspeed for these conditions, which resulted in an exceedance of the airplane's critical angle of attack and an aerodynamic stall.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.

Photographs from the investigation 7 pictures from the NTSB's docket, as the NTSB released them

Photo 1 – Accident airplane at accident site.Photo 2 – Accident airplane at accident site.Photo 3 – Airplane’s engine buried in mud at accident site.Photo 4 – Theodolite picture from rear of engine at accident site.Photo 5 – Accident airplane’s engine after removal from mud at accident site.Photo 6 – Thermal damage to right fuel cap seal.Photo 7 – Cracks around circumference of left fuel cap seal.

The NTSB's photographs with the NTSB's captions, at screen size. Open a picture to see it full size or to report one that should not be shown.