N58166

On July 4, 2002, at 1049 eastern daylight time, a Mooney M20J, N58166, was substantially damaged when it collided with terrain during an aborted landing at Ocean City Municipal Airport (26N), Ocean City, New Jersey. The certificated private pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the flight that departed Chester County Airport (40N), Coatesville, Pennsylvania, about 1000. The personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the pilot, he overflew the airport, then entered a left downwind for landing on runway 06. The wind was from the east, and the windsock was perpendicular to the runway. He aborted his first landing attempt because his airspeed was too high, then re-entered the traffic pattern for landing on the same runway.

During the pilot's second attempt, the airspeeds were perfect, and the wind was not a factor. He touched down "past the numbers" at 65 knots. Because the landing was hard, the airplane bounced, so he added power. He then felt a gust of wind pushing him to the left, so he added full power to go around. The torque pulled the airplane to the left, the left wing touched the sawgrass, and the airplane spun around. The airplane came to a full stop, upright, facing the opposite direction of travel.

Two airport employees witnessed the accident. They each stated that the airplane touched down, and made a "sharp", "sudden" turn to the left, off the west side of the runway.

The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single engine land. He reported approximately 260 hours of flight experience, 40 hours of which were in the Mooney.

When questioned about the performance and handling of the airplane, the pilot said that the airplane performed normally.

The weather reported at the Atlantic City International Airport (ACY), 11 miles northeast of Ocean City, included winds from 010 degrees at 5 knots.