- Date
- January 2, 1993, 15:30 local (23:30 UTC)
- Place
- Gorman, CA
- Injuries
- 2 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N6790VMooney M20C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Status
- Completed · report November 15, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930102000099A
- Case key
- 27903
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
1) The carburetor inlet fuel line being improperly installed by maintenance personnel which allowed the carburetor to become contaminated with metal particles, and 2) the carburetor float valve being jammed by metal particles which allowed excessive fuel to be introduced into the carburetor resulting in flooding and the total loss of engine power. A factor in this accident was the pilot encountering an unfavorable crosswind during final approach which led to the airplane's wing colliding with fence posts during landing roll.
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 airplane was in cruise flight at about 9,500 feet mean sea level when the engine had a total loss of power. The pilot entered a power off forced landing and performed emergency procedures attempting to re start the engine. He could not get the engine started. The pilot landed the airplane on a two lane road adjacent to an interstate highway. The pilot encountered an unfavorable left crosswind which caused the airplane to drift to the right side of the road. During landing roll the airplane's right wing contacted metal fence posts and spun the airplane into an embankment. During an FAA supervised engine run fuel was noted as leaking from the carburetor. An examination of the carburetor revealed that the inlet fuel fitting had galled or crossfed threads. Metal shavings from the threads bypassed the fuel screen and traveled directly into the fuel float valve without going through the filter screen. This caused the float valve to become inoperative, which resulted in flooding the engine with fuel causing a total loss of engine power. The airplane's engine had a total time of 7 hours since overhaul.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6790V
- Reported as
- Mooney M20C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 700084
- Airframe hours
- 3,091
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1D, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Daniel G. Olivier
- Registered owner
- Daniel G. Olivier
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 21, 1992 · 12 hours before
- Departed
- O69 · Petaluma, CA
- Destination
- EMT · El Monte, CA
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 564 total · 385 in this make and model · 484 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 7 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Not reported
- Wind
- 300° at 20 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 20 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.