N201ZZ – MOONEY M20J – 2011-03-25 NTSB Accident Report

On March 25, 2011, a Mooney M20J (N201ZZ) was involved in an incident near St. Petersburg, FL. All 1 person aboard were uninjured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this incident to be: The pilot’s failure to maintain directional control during a crosswind landing.

According to the pilot, he was landing on runway 18 at a bayside airport with winds reported from the tower as being from 270 degrees at 15 knots. The airplane touched down on the "main wheels," and the pilot held control yoke back-pressure until the nose wheel touched down. The airplane then veered 90 degrees to the left, "did a small skip/bounce," departed the runway, and crossed a grassy area. It then struck a seawall, went over it, and came to rest nose-down, almost vertically, with salt water almost to the cockpit. The left wing and the fuselage were substantially damaged. Neither the pilot nor the responding Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector reported any preexisting mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

This incident is documented in NTSB report ERA11CA212. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N201ZZ.