- Date
- June 1, 2020, 17:15 local (22:15 UTC)
- Place
- Lahoma, OK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6728UMooney M20C
- Defining event
- Enroute: Fuel exhaustion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200601019469A
- Case key
- 101503
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 loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and the pilot’s improper fuel planning before the flight.
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
After about 1 hour of normal flight, the engine lost power. The pilot switched from the right fuel tank to the left fuel tank and the engine restarted. About 5 minutes later, the engine lost power again. The pilot decided to land the airplane in a field since the nearest airport was about 8 miles away. Upon touchdown in the field, the airplane hit a berm, and the landing gear collapsed. The aft fuselage and empennage sustained substantial damage. After the accident, the pilot reported that he was not familiar with the recently purchased airplane’s fuel system. He also stated that he normally topped off his fuel tanks before each flight, but he did not do so before the accident flight. Examination of the airplane at the accident site confirmed that there was no usable fuel on board.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6728U
- Reported as
- Mooney M20C (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2460
- Built
- 1963
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360 SER, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 1, 2020
- Departed
- OKC · Oklahoma City, OK
- Destination
- WDG · Lahoma, OK
- Airport
- WDG · Enid Municipal
- 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
- 81
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 3,500 total · 2 in this make and model · 2 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 150° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 12,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 86 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.04 inHg
- Observed at
- WDG, 8 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on July 27, 2021, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.0 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.