- Date
- January 25, 1989, 18:12 local (Jan 26, 1989, 02:12 UTC)
- Place
- Truckee, CA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3274FMooney M20F
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report May 15, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890125001269A
- Case key
- 26208
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
The pilot's decision to fly with a known deficiency of the aircraft, the worn fuel injector with an interior leak, which resulted in loss of engine power, and the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall.
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
Before the flt, the plt was observed scraping ice from the wings of the acft. The eng started without difficulty & the plt taxied to rwy 28 to takeoff at ngt. During the initial climb, the acft entered a left turn after passing the end of the rwy. Suddenly, it entered a descent & crashed on snow covered terrain. Impact occurred on a hdg of 140 deg. The leading edges of both wings were flattened against the main spar & the fuselage forward of the empennage was buckled. A witness stated that the eng 'stalled' before the acft started a descent. A test of the fuel injector revealed it had an interior leak around the mixture control bushing seal, which allowed unmetered fuel to enter the eng. No other mechanical part failure/malfunction was found. The arpt elev was 5900'. Two acquaintances of the plt said he rprtd a fuel injector problem or a fuel mixture problem.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3274F
- Reported as
- Mooney M20F
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 670367
- Airframe hours
- 2,975
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Holliday, Lloyd E.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 8, 1988 · 25 hours before
- Destination
- Q99 · San Martin, CA
- Airport
- TRK · Truckee-Tahoe, runway 28, 6,401 × 100 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
- 58
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,417 total · 512 in this make and model · 1,363 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 11 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 21 °F, dew point -0 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- TRK, 25 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.