Mooney M20J N201EU

Summary

On 23 October 2016 at about 01:00 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201EU was involved in an accident near Coalinga, California, United States. 2 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 October 2016 at 01:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Coalinga, California, United States

Coordinates

36.2425, -120.2178

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201EU

Category

Airplane

Year built

1977

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hanford → Coalinga

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR17LA011

Nobody was injured.

A partial loss of engine power due to the pilot's improper in-flight fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot was conducting a local flight when the engine experienced a partial loss of power. The pilot stated that he switched the fuel selector from the right to the left tank, applied full throttle, set the mixture control to full rich, and extended the wing flaps. The engine seemed to continue running during the forced landing. The airplane impacted a stand of almond trees and came to rest in a nose-down attitude about 1 1/2 miles from the destination. The pilot reported no mechanical anomalies with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and stated that there was enough fuel to get to the destination, "but not all in the tank that was being drawn from." A postaccident examination revealed that the right wing tank, which was undamaged, was void of any usable fuel; about 4 ounces of fuel was drained from the tank. Also, there was no evidence of a fuel leak from either wing tank. The fuel selector was observed positioned to draw fuel from the left tank, which contained about 7 gallons of fuel. Further examination revealed that the fuel control unit's inlet finger strainer was clean and free of obstructions. Additionally, the fuel supply line contained a small amount of clean, blue-colored fuel when disconnected. No water or particulate contaminates were detected in the fuel system. A postaccident engine run revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The partial loss of engine power was likely due to the pilot's improper in-flight fuel management, which resulted in fuel starvation to the engine after all of the usable fuel in the right wing tank had been consumed.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.