- Date
- June 28, 2013, 16:25 local (22:25 UTC)
- Place
- Hudson, CO
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N5254GMooney M20K
- Defining event
- Enroute: Loss of engine power (total)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 10, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- FAA report
- 20130628011839A
- Case key
- 87363
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's improper fuel management, which resulted in the loss of engine power due to fuel starvation.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The engine lost power in flight, and the pilot made a forced landing to a field. During the postaccident examination, 1 pint of fuel was recovered from the right wing fuel tank, and 7.5 gallons of fuel were recovered from the left wing fuel tank. The fuel selector valve was found in the right fuel tank position. No fuel was found in the lines to the engine. A postaccident examination of the airframe and remaining systems revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
On June 28, 2013, about 1625 mountain daylight time, a Mooney M20K airplane, N5254G, was substantially damaged during a forced landing near Hudson, Colorado. The commercial pilot was seriously injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The flight originated from the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (KBJC), Broomfield, Colorado, at 1600. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector who responded to the accident, the engine lost power in flight. During the forced landing to a field, the fuselage and firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot did not provide a written narrative of the sequence of events leading up to the accident. The airplane and engine were examined by the National Transportation Safety Board and FAA at a storage facility in Greeley, Colorado. One pint of fuel was recovered from the right wing fuel tank and 7.5 gallons of fuel was recovered from the left wing fuel tank. The fuel selector valve was selected to the right fuel tank. There was no fuel in the lines to the engine including the throttle body to the fuel distribution valve. Further examination revealed that the fuel gauges were not accurate. An examination of the airframe and remaining systems revealed no anomalies. According to the Mooney M20K flight manual found in the airplane, the system has 3 gallons of unusable fuel and 75.6 gallons of usable fuel.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5254G
- Reported as
- Mooney M20K
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 25-1180
- Airframe hours
- 4,200
- Engine
- Cont Motor TSIO-360 SER, 225 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Slack J Evan
- Registered owner
- Slack J Evan
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- KBJC · Broomfield, CO
- Destination
- KFTG · Watkins, CO
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Equipment
- Stall warning system
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
- 78
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- July 10, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 9,000 total · 4,085 in this make and model · 8,960 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 13 knots, gusting 17
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 93 °F, dew point 48 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.20 inHg
- Observed at
- KDEN
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N5254G · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.