Says He Takes Issue With Investigator's Findings

John Leonhardt was aboard the plane when South Carolina Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer's Mooney M-20E (file photo of type below) crashed on takeoff from a private, unregistered runway near Blacksburg, SC. He says he takes issue with the NTSB's report on the accident.

The NTSB's finding of probable cause indicates the crash resulted from Bauer's failure to abort the takeoff when, for unknown reasons, the aircraft didn't reach takeoff speed.

Writing as a guest columnist for South Carolina newspaper The State, Leonhardt says he is a 5,000-hour commercially-rated pilot with ratings for single-engine land and sea, multi-engine land and instrument airplanes. He also holds an instrument rating. He also happens to be the previous owner of Bauer's crashed Mooney and claims he's flown on and off the runway where the accident occurred.

In its findings, the NTSB made much of the fact that Bauer, Leonhardt and two others were unable to reposition the aircraft by hand. The report notes Bauer released the parking brake after a first attempt to move the plane, but the four were still unable to move it. Eventually, Bauer started the engine and turned the aircraft around using power. The NTSB also noted skid marks at the departure end of the runway Bauer used.

In his column, Leonhardt says those comments in the NTSB report suggest the board believes the parking brake may have been engaged during the takeoff attempt. He says that can't be because he himself released the brake after the first attempts to move the aircraft. He also says the skid marks on the runway were the result of the earlier landing, not from dragging brakes during the incident takeoff.

The NTSB also made much of performance data in the aircraft's handbook that suggested the runway used was, at best, barely adequate for the conditions. Despite those findings, Leonhardt makes the rather bold suggestion his flights there demonstrate the runway's length "had no bearing" on the crash.

The NTSB investigated Leonhardt's assertion the Mooney's recently overhauled engine faltered at a point during the takeoff making an abort impossible. The NTSB found bolts missing from one cylinder's induction tube, but testing by Lycoming found such an induction leak wouldn't degrade the performance of an IO-360 engine -- like the one installed in Bauer's Mooney -- running at full throttle. Investigators were unable to find any other mechanical faults with the engine which might have reduced its performance.

Again, in spite of the NTSB's investigation, Leonhardt maintains his assertion the crash was a direct result of degraded engine performance. He claims, "Only the two men who were in the plane when the engine faltered and the RPMs decreased can make a truly accurate assessment of the emergency. Aborting takeoff was not an option at the point of the RPM decrease."

Leonhardt suggests the NTSB's relying on averages and "typical performance" calculations in this case made for errors in its findings. He said, "I was there. I am an experienced aviator. I know that plane. I know that airstrip. I know that pilot. Given the circumstances, I would have had to take the same action Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer took on that day."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov