Mooney M20E N7145U

Summary

On 9 October 2013 at about 21:45 local time, a Mooney M20E registered N7145U, operated by Thulin Andrew W, was involved in an accident near Julian, California, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 October 2013 at 21:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Julian, California, United States

Coordinates

33.1625, -116.9597

Aircraft

Mooney M20E

Registration

N7145U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1964

Engines

1

Operator

Thulin Andrew W

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Palm Springs → El Cajon

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

Unk

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR14FA012

2 people died.

The pilot’s failure to maintain clearance from terrain while maneuvering to avoid clouds in mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed on a 65-mile cross-country personal flight over mountainous terrain with a planned destination of his home base. The pilot contacted air traffic control (ATC) for visual flight rules (VFR) flight following. During the course of the flight, the pilot experienced turbulence at 8,500 ft and descended to 4,500 ft. When an ATC controller informed him that he was in an area of high terrain, the pilot stated that he was familiar with the area and could maintain his own terrain obstruction clearance. Several minutes later, radio and radar contact were lost, and an alert notice was issued several hours later. Sheriff's helicopters attempted to search the area but had to abandon their efforts due to inclement weather. The following morning, the airplane was located on the side of a mountain with a 50-percent grade at an elevation of 4,200 ft and near the last radar contact. Postaccident examination of the recovered airframe and engine revealed no evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Weather reports for the area indicated that the mountainous terrain was most likely partially obscured by clouds; therefore, it is likely that the pilot was maneuvering to maintain VFR flight when the airplane collided with the mountainous terrain. The sedating antihistamine diphenhydramine was found in cardiac blood. However, diphenhydramine undergoes significant postmortem redistribution. At the level detected, the investigation was unable to determine if the medication would have impaired the pilot around the time of the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.