- Date
- December 31, 1998, 10:50 local (16:50 UTC)
- Place
- Tryon, NE
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N333WSMooney M20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 16, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19981231044249A
- Case key
- 45572
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
other maintenance personnel's not correcting a loose cylinder assembly. Factors were loose engine cylinder assembly, fractured cylinder mounting hardware, the roadway, and road sign.
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
While in cruise flight the engine began to lose power. The pilot elected to conduct a forced landing on a roadway due to rough and hilly terrain. The landing was successful; however, during the rollout the right wing impacted a sign, and rotated into a ditch. Subsequent to the accident an examination of the airplane engine revealed #3 cylinder was loose and six cylinder base studs were fractured. The engine had accumulated a total time of 1,100 hours time in service and 31 hours since the last inspection.
Factual narrative
On December 31, 1998, at 1050 central standard time, a Mooney M20E, N333WS, operated by a private pilot, sustained substantial damage during a forced landing following a loss of engine power. The airplane landed on a roadway 35 miles northwest of North Platte, Nebraska, near Tryon, Nebraska. The pilot told authorities that he noted a rise in the exhaust gas temperature just prior to the loss of engine power. The pilot reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was on file. The flight departed North Platte, Nebraska, with an intended destination of Rapid City, South Dakota, at 1035.
The pilot sad that after initiating a forced landing he elected to land on a roadway due to rough and hilly terrain. He said that the landing was successful; however, during rollout the right wing contacted a sign, and the airplane rotated into a ditch.
An examination of the airplane after the accident revealed that the #3 cylinder was loose from the crankcase and that six studs were broken. The intake pipe for the same cylinder was found broken. The most recent inspection of the airplane and engine occurred on September 25, 1998. The engine had accumulated 31 hours since the inspection and the total time in service of 1,100 hours.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N333WS
- Reported as
- Mooney M20E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 323
- Airframe hours
- 4,632
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Roger D. Smith
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · September 25, 1998 · 31 hours before
- Departed
- LBF · North Platte, NE
- Destination
- RAP · Rapid City, SD
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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 1,435 total · 1,020 in this make and model · 1,387 as pilot in command · 26 in the last 90 days · 12 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LBF, 35 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.