Mooney M20D N6628U

Summary

On 3 March 2007 at about 15:45 local time, a Mooney M20D registered N6628U was involved in an accident near Visalia, 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

3 March 2007 at 15:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Visalia, California, United States

Nearest airport

Visalia Muni (VIS)

Coordinates

36.3333, -119.3833

Aircraft

Mooney M20D

Registration

N6628U

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Concord → Visalia

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX07CA098

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight fuel system management, which resulted in fuel starvation and a loss of engine power.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with a berm during a forced landing in an industrial building construction site following a loss of engine power. The pilot stated that during the preflight inspection he did not check the fuel quantity. He stated that a month prior to the accident the airplane had been "topped off," and then flown about an hour from the right fuel tank. The pilot also said that during the 160 nautical mile accident flight he did not recall switching fuel tanks. About 3 miles north of the destination airport the engine sputtered and lost power. He switched tanks and activated the electric fuel boost pump, the engine restarted momentarily, then sputtered and lost power again. The pilot switched tanks three or four more times to no avail. Post accident inspection of the airplane by the FAA revealed that the right fuel tank was empty and the left tank contained about 6 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel. The fuel line to the carburetor did not contain any fuel. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right tank position. The electric fuel pump was activated and no fuel pressure indication was observed. The fuel selector handle was moved to the left fuel tank position and a fuel pressure indication was observed in the normal operating range.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.