Mooney M20-J | N205MK

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the accident pilot departed from runway 28 at KDWU, and was able to climb and retract his landing gear, and did prioritize making it to a paved road for an emergency landing, but was unable to reach it. Immediately after takeoff the accident aircraft lost partial power and was not able to maintain altitude. His focus became on landing with gear down on a paved county road and his final selection of gear down brought him down into a tree line in the back yard of a home on the county road. The aircraft was badly damaged during the crash and caught fire, whereupon the accident pilot was not able to open the main cabin door, and burned while trying to escape.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all aircraft rehearse and condition themselves to be ready for the proper response to ROTOT or LOTOT and to be ready to land gear up (if in a retractable type aircraft) straight ahead. This accident pilot had numerous and extensive flat open fields to choose from but elected to attempt a gear down landing on a road. The DTSB recommends that pilots not prioritize makin it to a road or a runway, but rather place very high priority on landing anywhere flat and open.