- Date
- May 30, 1990, 19:30 local (May 31, 1990, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Aledo, TX
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N6873VMooney M-20F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report October 2, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19900530018269A
- Case key
- 23134
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
Inadequate preflight planning/preparation, in as much as the performance data was not used by the pilot in command. Factors were the high density altitude, inadequate airspeed, and premature liftoff.
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 runway was short. The day was hot. The airplane made a running start onto the grass airstrip. The pilot pulled the airplane into the air, well past the normal liftoff point. The airplane would not fly out of ground efect. The pilot kept the airplane airborne until it passed over a road and a fence, then he pulled the power off, and it impacted the terrain. Airstrip OAT was 94 degrees f. and density altitude was 3,600 feet versus airstrip elevation of 870 feet MSL. Airplane was not overloaded for a normal day, but it was overloaded for the density altitude on this day.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6873V
- Reported as
- Mooney M-20F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 22-1266
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Fort Worth Wire & Cable
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 23, 1990 · 3 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- Triple S, runway 35, 1,850 × 75 ft, grass/turf
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
- 47
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 262 total · 105 in this make and model · 213 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FTW, 9 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.