Mooney M20F N3270F

Summary

On 9 February 2019 at about 04:10 local time, a Mooney M20F registered N3270F was involved in an accident near Diablo, California, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

9 February 2019 at 04:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Diablo, California, United States

Coordinates

37.8719, -121.9244

Aircraft

Mooney M20F

Registration

N3270F

Category

Airplane

Year built

1967

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hayward → Lincoln

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

WPR19FA083

1 person died.

The student pilot’s decision to depart on a visual flight rules flight into reduced visibility night conditions and his subsequent failure to maintain clearance from mountainous terrain, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The student pilot departed on a solo cross-country night flight for which he had not received an instructor endorsement. Radar data indicated that, after departure, the pilot established the airplane on a heading toward the destination airport at an altitude about 2,800 ft mean sea level (msl). The airplane continued on course about that altitude until radar contact was lost in the vicinity of the accident site. The wreckage was subsequently located about 1,000 ft below the summit of a 3,849-ft-tall mountain about 16 miles from the departure airport. Examination of the airframe and engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Signatures at the accident site and the damage to the airplane indicated a wings-level impact, consistent with controlled flight into terrain. State park employees near the accident site reported that the weather was foggy and windy with rain at the time of the accident. Review of weather information indicated visual flight rules to marginal visual flight rules conditions prevailed throughout the area, with multiple layers of clouds reported; an atmospheric sounding indicated potential for clouds from about 2,900 ft through 13,000 ft msl. An AIRMET for mountain obscuration conditions was current for the area of the accident site at the time of the accident, and it is likely that the obstruction lighting located on and near the mountain summit was obstructed by clouds. There was no evidence that the pilot obtained preflight weather information from an official, access-controlled source. The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the pilot's failure to maintain clearance from terrain while operating in reduced visibility night conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.