- Date
- July 14, 1990, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Torrington, WY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N6456QMooney M20F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 9, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900714025789A
- Case key
- 17974
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
A partial loss of power due to a failed exhaust valve. A factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.
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 private pilot took off and attempted to climb. He said the engine seemed to be producing only partial power. He turned back to the runway, but lost altitude, dragged one wing on the terrain, and landed across the 75 foot wide runway. The plane crossed the runway, a taxiway, skidded up a hill and came to rest. The fuselage, both wings, the nose gear and left main gear were damaged. A postaccident investigation revealed a broken exhaust valve in the number one cylinder.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6456Q
- Reported as
- Mooney M20F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 670535
- Airframe hours
- 5,740
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- B & L Aviation, Inc.
- Departed
- TOR
- Destination
- RAP · Rapid City, SD
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- TOR · Torrington, runway 1, 5,700 × 75 ft, asphalt
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
- 37
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Flight hours
- 1,500 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 1,440 as pilot in command · 51 in the last 90 days · 33 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -0 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.