Mooney M20C N6796N

Summary

On 31 December 2021 at about 20:30 local time, a Mooney M20C registered N6796N was involved in an accident near Marana, Arizona, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

31 December 2021 at 20:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Marana, Arizona, United States

Coordinates

32.6917, -112.1279

Aircraft

Mooney M20C

Registration

N6796N

Category

Airplane

Year built

1968

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Marana → Temecula

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR22FA073

1 person died.

The pilot’s loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation after entering instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment due to use of methamphetamine before the flight.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The non-instrument-rated pilot departed into visual meteorological conditions (VMC) on a day cross-country flight. Concerned family members contacted flight service when the pilot was overdue at the destination airport. The wreckage was located 4 days later in dessert terrain about 56 miles from the departure airport. Flight track data indicated that after departure the airplane proceeded northwest toward the destination airport before it turned to the southwest. The airplane continued to the southwest, where it made a series of turns until radar contact was lost. Review of weather information near the accident location at the time of the accident indicated instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), including low ceilings and visibility, were most likely present at the time of the accident. It is unknown if the pilot obtained a preflight weather briefing. All major structural components of the airplane were located within the wreckage path. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preexisting anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Postmortem toxicology testing revealed varying levels of methamphetamine in the pilot’s liver and muscle tissue. The methamphetamine levels detected are consistent with the pilot’s use of methamphetamine before the flight. It is likely that the psychoactive effects from the pilot’s use of methamphetamine contributed to his decision to fly into conditions that he was not trained for. The non-instrument-rated pilot’s flight into IMC would have made airplane control by visual references difficult, especially while maneuvering. When there were no outside visual references, pilots must rely on use of flight instruments to understand their position in space. Based on the postaccident flight track data, the pilot made a series of turns that were inconsistent with his intended flight path and were likely the result of the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation. It is likely the pilot did not reference the flight instruments or was experiencing an increase in workload because of spatial disorientation, and did not recover the airplane from its descent.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.