Mooney M20J N201XL

Summary

On 17 January 2002 at about 12:00 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201XL was involved in an accident near Lake Placid, Florida, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

17 January 2002 at 12:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Lake Placid, Florida, United States

Nearest airport

Vince's Airstrip (FA60)

Coordinates

27.2897, -81.3604

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201XL

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lake Placid → Montgomery

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Dawn

NTSB number

MIA02LA050

1 person had minor injuries.

The failure of the pilot to perform a proper preflight inspection and his improper fuel tank selection for takeoff, resulting in a loss of engine power on takeoff due to fuel starvation, and the pilot's failure to maintain directional control of the aircraft resulting in an uncontrollable descent and collision with orange trees and terrain.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight departed VFR and just as the aircraft became airborne, the engine lost power. The pilot lost directional control, and crashed into an adjacent orange grove off the left side of the runway abeam a point about 3/4 way down the 3,000 foot runway. The aircraft received substantial damage and the pilot sustained minor injuries. Postcrash examination of the aircraft revealed the right wing contained no fuel and was the fuel source selected on the fuel selector. The left wing was nearly full. A postcrash examination of the engine's fuel injection distribution block revealed no fuel. Postcrash engine run revealed a fully operational engine. The pilot performed a visual check of fuel aboard the evening prior to his early morning departure, and noted 26 gallons of fuel in the right wing tank and 32 gallons of fuel in the left wing tank. He did not perform a visual check of fuel as part of his preflight walk around inspection the morning of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.