- Date
- July 13, 1991, 13:15 local (20:15 UTC)
- Place
- Little River, CA
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N999LMMooney M20
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 24, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19910713027329A
- Case key
- 27288
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 inadvertently inducing a stall spin condition with insufficient altitude to recover from the spin.
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 non-instrument rated pilot called UNICOM for landing instructions. The airport manager told the pilot that runway 29 was in use and to enter left traffic for that runway. He also told the pilot that the ceiling was about 500 feet overcast. The pilot called from 5 miles out and was again told to enter left traffic for runway 29. The pilot's aircraft was seen spinning to the ground from about 500 feet above the ground. The aircraft impacted the ground and was consumed by fire. FAA inspectors examined the aircraft and reported that the propeller exhibited physical damage consistent with a propeller under power.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N999LM
- Reported as
- Mooney M20
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 1148
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- John & Sharon Mitchell
- Registered owner
- John & Sharon Mitchell
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- 753 · Hillsboro, OR
- Airport
- 048 · Little River, runway 29, 5,249 × 150 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
- 54
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 450 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 290° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 500 ft overcast
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.