Mooney M20C N6713N

Summary

On 23 June 2007 at about 05:15 local time, a Mooney M20C registered N6713N was involved in an accident near Price, Utah, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

23 June 2007 at 05:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Price, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Carbon County Regional (KPUC)

Coordinates

39.6331, -110.7436

Aircraft

Mooney M20C

Registration

N6713N

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Price → Green River

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

SEA07LA177

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from power transmission lines while on a night straight-in visual flight rules approach. Factors include a power transmission line about one and three-tenths mile off the approach end of the runway, and the pilot's decision to operate in the night environment.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

While en route to his final destination, the pilot landed at an intermediate stop in order to take a break and refuel his airplane. He was on the ground for about two hours, and then he decided to continue on to his final destination, which was about 60 miles away, without refueling. Prior to his departure, he mentioned to another pilot that he did not want to wait for the fuel attendant to come out to the airport, and that he had more than enough fuel to make the flight. The pilot departed for his final destination after dark, but about one hour later, he returned to the airport where he had made the intermediate stop. While he was on an extended final, about 1.3 miles from the uncontrolled airport, the aircraft hit some unmarked electrical wires, which are strung between unlighted poles. The investigation determined that there was no requirement for the electrical wires to be marked, nor was there a requirement for the power poles to be lighted. The runway he was aligned to land on did not have a Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI), whereas the opposite runway did have such a device. It was also determined that the pilot-activated runway lights at the uncontrolled final destination airport were not functioning at the time that the accident aircraft would have arrived there.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.