Mooney M20J N201KM

Summary

On 4 October 2003 at about 19:10 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N201KM was involved in an accident near Grantsville, Utah, United States. 4 people were on board and 2 died, 2 were seriously injured. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 October 2003 at 19:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Grantsville, Utah, United States

Coordinates

40.6286, -112.9422

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N201KM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Aerial Observation

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Salt Lake City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

DEN04FA003

2 people died.

the pilot's failure to maintain an adequate visual outlook during low level flight maneuvers that resulted in a collision with terrain. A contributing factor was the pilot's attention being diverted.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The purpose of the flight was to locate and photograph raptor nests as part of a volunteer program for the Bureau of Land Management's Raptor Inventory Nest Survey. The pilot said he was circling a rock outcropping in a clockwise direction when his front seat passenger "leaned forward and began pointing toward the front of the aircraft with his left arm at what was assumed to be a bird's nest. The passenger maintained this position and called out several times to the rear seat passengers, 'There, there it is!' Unfortunately, the passenger's position obscured the pilot's view from the center post of the windscreen through the starboard [right] side window during a portion of the clockwise turn. Shortly before impact, a climbing right turn was initiated, but the left wing contacted the terrain and the aircraft came to rest against a rock outcropping."

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.