Mooney M20K N200DP

Summary

On 18 May 2014 at about 13:59 local time, a Mooney M20K registered N200DP, operated by Grund Joseph R, was involved in an accident near Georgetown, Delaware, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 May 2014 at 13:59

Classification

Accident

Location

Georgetown, Delaware, United States

Nearest airport

Sussex County (GED)

Coordinates

38.6878, -75.3583

Aircraft

Mooney M20K

Registration

N200DP

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Grund Joseph R

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Woodbine → Georgetown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ERA14LA242

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s improper preflight planning and in-flight fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation and a total loss of engine power. Also causal to the accident was the pilot’s failure to see and avoid the wires on the airport boundary.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on the 40-mile flight with an unknown quantity of fuel onboard the airplane, but he estimated that it had about 10 gallons more than he thought was needed for the flight. While maneuvering to land, he increased the engine power twice, but the engine did not respond. He anticipated that the airplane could land on the airport property; however, the airplane struck wires and terrain short of the runway. Seven gallons of fuel were recovered from the 78.6-gallon fuel system, of which 3 gallons were unusable. The amount of fuel recovered from each tank could not be determined, and which tank the pilot had selected at the time of the loss of engine power could also not be determined. However, after the accident, the pilot reported that data from the airplane's engine monitor revealed that the fuel flow stopped 60 seconds before the propeller stopped. He added that he probably should have purchased fuel before his departure and that, if he had it to do over, he would. After replacing the damaged propeller with a slave propeller and adding 5 gallons of fuel in each wing tank, an engine test run was conducted; the engine started immediately, accelerated smoothly, and ran continuously without interruption throughout the test.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.