- Date
- June 5, 1986, 15:00 local (20:00 UTC)
- Place
- Pell City, AL
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1308WMooney M20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 7120
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The eng lost pwr and a forced landing was made aprx 5 miles south of the destination arpt. The plt reported that, prior to departure he visually examined the fuel tanks and estimated having aprx 9 gals total fuel onboard. He estimated that only 5 gals would be required for the flt to the destination arpt where he planned to refuel. The plt switched tanks after the initial pwr loss, and the eng regained pwr and ran for aprx 1 minute before losing pwr again. Investigation revealed aprx 1 1/2 gals fuel remained in one tank and the other tank was empty. There was no evidence of fuel leakage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1308W
- Reported as
- Mooney M20E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 196
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William Shepherd
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 26, 1986 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- BMH · Birmingham, AL
- Destination
- PLR · Pell City, AL
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 48
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 585 total · 102 in this make and model · 520 as pilot in command · 61 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 12 knots, gusting 18
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft unknown
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg