# Incident 20020921029589I: Mooney M20C, Lafayette, IN, September 21, 2002

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: September 21, 2002, 11:33 local time
- Place: Lafayette, IN
- Airport: Purdue University
- Phase of flight: Normal Cruise
- Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
- Location: 40.4123° N, 86.9369° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at PURDUE UNIVERSITY (LAF), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=40.4123&lon=-86.9369&mi=10
- Aircraft: N6231U, a cancelled registration (https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N6231U-2013-08-20) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Mooney M20C (registry code 5870208, https://openairdocs.org/model/mooney-m20c) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Lycoming O&VO-360 series (registry code 41514, https://openairdocs.org/engine/lycoming-o-vo-360-series) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: MOONEY M20C
- Reported engine: LYC O360A1D
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 0
- Pilot flight hours: 260 total, 50 in this make and model, 15 in the last 90 days
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20020921029589I

## Narrative

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

(-23) ON 09/21/02 A MOONEY, M-20-C, REGISTRATION NUMBER N6231U, SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTURE FROM LAF, WHILE IN CRUISE AT 3,000 FT AT APPROXIMATELY 1633Z, PILOT HEARD A LOUD POP FROM THE ENGINE AREA. SMOKE CAME FROM THE FRONT COWLING, THEN INTO THE COCKPIT. PILOT CONTACTED LAF TOWER TO ADVISE OF SITUATION AND BEGAN 180 DEGREE TURN TO RETURN TO LAF. PILOT HEARD TWO MORE POPS FROM ENGINE AND BEGAN LOSING POWER AND COULD NOT MAINTAIN ALTITUDE. PILOT ADVISED LAF TOWER HE WAS PUTTING AIRCRAFT DOWN IN A FIELD. THE AIRCRAFT LANDED IN A BEAN FIELD APPROXIMATELY 12 MILES NW OF LAF. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE AIRCRAFT DURING THE EMERGENCY LANDING AND THE PILOT WAS NOT INJURED.

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.

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