- Date
- March 17, 1991, 16:30 local (Mar 18, 1991, 00:30 UTC)
- Place
- Herlong, CA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1921YMooney M20D
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 25, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910317006699A
- Case key
- 27140
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 inadequate preparation of the propeller during overhaul. The installation of an improper pitched propeller and the fatigue failure of the propeller blade emanating from corrosion were factors in the accident.
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 aircraft had been in cruise flight at an altitude of 7500 feet MSL for two and a half hours when a blade separated from the fixed pitch propeller. The pilot secured the engine, stopped the rotation of the propeller and landed on a road without further incident. A post accident analysis of the propeller failure disclosed a fatigue crack emanated from a corrosion area on the camber side of the blade.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1921Y
- Reported as
- Mooney M20D
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 216
- Engine
- Lycoming 0360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Marlyn R. Taylor
- Registered owner
- Marlyn R. Taylor
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- 61S · Cottage Grove, OR
- Destination
- PO6 · Bullhead City, AZ
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 41
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 1,940 total · 1,000 in this make and model · 1,781 as pilot in command · 39 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days · 3 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.