N950Z

On October 13, 1996, at 1115 eastern daylight time (EDT), N950Z, a Mooney M20J, overran the runway while landing at Tucker Guthrie Memorial Airport, in Harlan, Kentucky. The certificated airline transport pilot was not injured, and the two passengers received minor injuries. The airplane sustained substantial damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was filed. The business flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The flight originated in Fredericksburg, Virginia, at 0930 EDT.

The pilot reported that his flight to Kentucky was uneventful. He said, "...I started my descent into the traffic area, setting myself up for the approach profile on downwind. I kept everything normal at this point, after turning base and onto final, the terrain surrounding the runway gave me an illusion that I allow[ed] to intimidate me. After making a go around I decide[d] to keep my airspeed up 10-15 knots to reassure me that I would make it to the runway and to clear a mountain that was on the final approach. The result of keeping airspeed up was running off the runway." The airplane collided with rising terrain at the departure end of the runway.

According to a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Safety Inspector, the airplane touched down on runway 8, 2700 feet long and that there were skid marks approximately 300 feet from the end of the runway. Examination of the brakes by the FAA did not disclose evidence of mechanical malfunction. The pilot reported that "the accident could have been prevented if he had maintained a normal airspeed on final approach, and that there was no mechanical malfunction".