# Incident 19781102023729I: Mooney M20E, Palo Alto, CA, November 2, 1978

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: November 2, 1978, 19:15 local time
- Place: Palo Alto, CA
- Airport: Municipal
- Damage: Minor damage
- Phase of flight: Ops On Grnd From Ldg/Rtrcrft
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 37.3965° N, 122.1431° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Palo Alto, CA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=37.3965&lon=-122.1431&mi=10
- Aircraft: N3213F, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N3213F-2021-07-31) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Mooney M20E (registry code 5870212, https://openairdocs.org/model/mooney-m20e) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming I0360 series (registry code 41515, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-i0360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: MOONEY M20E
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 2,000 total, 1,800 in this make and model, 0 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19781102023729I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

AIRCRAFT STRUCK DITCH WHILE TAXIING AT NIGHT WITHOUT TAXI LIGHT. BATTERY WAS TOO WEAK DUE TO GENERATOR FAILURE.

## Other reports on N3213F (1)

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.

- [Incident 20180621015609I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20180621015609I), Jun 21, 2018: Mooney M20E (N3213F), Mesa, AZ, Minor damage. The pilot was on a VFR flight from marana kavq to Falcon kffz with VFR approach into Falcon from the south East. He contacted ATC and received landing…

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

---
OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.