Mooney M20J N201BJ

Summary

On 25 October 2019 at about 18:00 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201BJ was involved in an accident near American Falls, Idaho, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

25 October 2019 at 18:00

Classification

Accident

Location

American Falls, Idaho, United States

Coordinates

42.7778, -112.8950

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201BJ

Category

Airplane

Year built

1976

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Dinsmore → Nashua

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR20FA015

1 person died.

The pilot’s failure to ensure adequate fuel onboard and his subsequent failure to maintain airspeed while maneuvering which resulted in an aerodynamic stall following a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment due to his use of marijuana.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on a visual flight rules cross-country flight. GPS data revealed the airplane deviated from its previously established on-course heading after about 2 hours and established a direct course to a closer airport. The airplane began a descent about 30 minutes later that continued until the end of the recorded data. The airplane began a 180° turn away from a populated area and impacted terrain about 3.5 miles from the airport. A witness, located about 2 miles from the accident site, reported that she observed an airplane flying at a low altitude that turned and went “straight down.” During the last moments of the flight, the pilot turned 180° to avoid a populated area. This placed the airplane over farmland with a highway, about 450 ft to the left, and parallel to the airplane’s flightpath. It is likely that the pilot continued the left turn to land on the highway but allowed the airplane to slow down and exceed the critical angle of attack, resulting in an aerodynamic stall and spin at an altitude too low for recovery. Ground scars at the accident site were also consistent with the airplane impacting in a near-vertical attitude. Recorded engine data revealed consistent operation of the engine throughout the flight until about 2 minutes prior to the loss of data, when the data indicated a total loss of engine power. Postaccident examination of the two main fuel tanks and the two auxiliary fuel tanks revealed no visible fuel remained, along with no hydraulic deformation of the forward wall of the main tanks. The recorded engine data also showed that 12.8 gallons of fuel remained in the airplane; however, it is likely the pilot input an incorrect amount of usable fuel in the engine monitoring device and believed that he had sufficient fuel to reach his destination. It was not possible to determine the amount of fuel onboard at takeoff. Fuel was not available at the departure airport. Toxicology testing of the pilot’s specimens detected the presence of Tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive component of marijuana, at levels considered impairing. It is likely the pilot was impaired by his use of marijuana and made a series of errors including, poor fuel planning, and inability to successfully manage a forced landing following a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. It is likely impairing effects from his use of marijuana on the day of the flight contributed to this accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.