Wed, Oct 04, 2006
Improper-Length Bolts May Have Also Played A Role
In an updated factual
report issued by the National Transportation Safety Board on the
May 23 takeoff crash of a plane piloted by South Carolina
Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer, the board states the runway was
too short for the conditions.
As Aero-News reported, Bauer
-- along with passenger John Leonhardt -- attempted to take off
from a small runway at a private airfield near Blacksburg, SC in
his single engine Mooney M20E (file photo of type, below) when the
aircraft struck trees and powerlines on departure. Both men were
able to scramble out of the wreckage with minor injuries before it
caught fire.
In the report -- which does not determine probable cause -- the
NTSB states that even under the most optimum of conditions, the
plane would have needed at least 200 feet more than the 1,400-foot
length of the unpaved runway to clear the trees, given the high
density altitude at the time of takeoff.
Both Bauer and Leonhardt have stated they believe the Mooney's
engine wasn't making full power when the plane took off. The NTSB
may have found evidence to support those claims... as induction
tube attachment bolts installed in the engine were found to be the
wrong size -- one inch, instead of one-and-a-quarter-inch in
length. This might have affected the air-fuel mixture.
The NTSB states the engine had been overhauled in April to fix
an oil leak in the induction system.
Leonhardt maintains he thinks the runway was long enough for the
Mooney's takeoff, if the engine had been operating normally. "I had
been in that runway before. It was no problem whatsoever," he told
The State newspaper in Columbia, SC.
Bauer -- who is running for reelection on November 7 -- is still
recovering after surgery for a broken foot. Leonhardt suffered
minor leg injuries.
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