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."