Mooney M20E N79820

Summary

On 2 October 1995 at about 02:07 local time, a Mooney M20E registered N79820 was involved in an accident near Long Beach, California, United States. 3 people were on board and one died, 2 had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

2 October 1995 at 02:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Long Beach, California, United States

Coordinates

33.8107, -118.1805

Aircraft

Mooney M20E

Registration

N79820

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Avalon → La Verne

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Bright

NTSB number

LAX96LA001

1 person died.

a loss of engine power for undeternined reasons.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While flying over the ocean, the pilot reported to the radar sector controller that the engine lost power. Then the pilot said that the engine restarted, but didn't sound good. Moments later he reported that the engine lost power and that he was going to ditch the airplane in the ocean. The sector controller immediately initiated search and rescue procedures. The two passengers were rescued. Neither the airplane nor the pilot was recovered. A fixed-base operator reported that on the evening before the accident, the airplane's right fuel tank was almost full; the left fuel tank was between 1/4 and 1/2 full. The pilot had purchased the airplane about 2 weeks before the accident; it could not be determined if the pilot received any instruction or a check-out in the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.