- Date
- April 16, 1982, 15:50 local (21:50 UTC)
- Place
- Bird Island, MN
- Injuries
- 3 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N3201PMooney M20J
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 16, 1983
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19820416012109A
- Case key
- 69957
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 aircraft departed thief rivers, MN and proceeded en route to new ulm, MN. One witness near the accident site heard a noise that sounded to him like an explosion. He and other witnesses in the vicinity saw the aircraft descending out of control in a roll or a spin before it crashed. Also, they saw two objects falling from the aircraft, one small and one large. An investigation revealed that a propeller blade, and then the engine, had separated in flight. The propeller blade was found about two weeks later approximately 1/4 mile left of the flight path. An examination revealed that the propeller blade had failed from fatigue cracking. The fatigue originated from a 1/16 inch deep forging fold in the surface of the blade near the butt end. The propeller, a mccauley model 90DHB-16E, had 340 hrs total flight time.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3201P
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 240568
- Airframe hours
- 878
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6D, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- L. Myron Yarger
- Registered owner
- L. Myron Yarger
- Departed
- TVF · Thief River Fal, MN
- Destination
- ULM · New Ulm, MN
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 985 total · 732 in this make and model · 947 as pilot in command · 60 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 113 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.