- Date
- December 27, 1985, 17:53 local (Dec 28, 1985, 00:53 UTC)
- Place
- San Manuel, AZ
- Injuries
- 4 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N234GAMooney M20F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19851227063849A
- Case key
- 25045
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
During cruise at 10,500 ft MSL on a night x-country flt, the plt said the eng ran rough with moderate vibration levels. Plt declared an emergency with abq ARTCC, who vectored the acft to an unlighted airstrip. The plt said he had difficultyin seeing the rwy in the darkness. The acft landed long, blew a tire, veered off the rt side of the rwy & struck a tree. Examination of the eng revealed that the #3 cylinder was ajar from the case, with all the top hold down studs & nuts in place but bent upward. The nuts were missing from the lower fore & aft large hold down studs, & the remaining center studs had all fractured at the cylinder flange level. The eng was overhauled 6 months and 21 hrs prior to the accident. The FAA airworthiness inspector who examined the eng stated his opinion that the nuts on the lower large studs were undertorqued at installation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N234GA
- Reported as
- Mooney M20F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 680036
- Airframe hours
- 1,510
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Eugene L. Haggerty
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 3, 1985 · 21 hours before
- Departed
- ELP · El Paso, TX
- Destination
- PHX · Phoenix, AZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- E77 · San Manuel, runway 29, 4,200 × 50 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
- 45
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 7,600 total · 700 in this make and model · 7,300 as pilot in command · 45 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 270° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °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.