LAX94FA278

The pilot departed on a 329 nautical mile cross-country flight over mountains and did not file a flight plan. About 88 miles from the departure point, the airplane crashed, but was missing for about eight months. It was found at about the 12,200 foot level of a mountain, about 2 miles west of the direct course line from the departure point to the destination. An investigation revealed evidence of an in-flight breakup. Wreckage debris was found over a 1,500 foot area. The empennage had separated from the fuselage, but was not found, except the rudder and elevator counterweights were found in debris north of the fuselage. The airplane was equipped with an area navigation system, loran-c, and a portable GPS. The autopilot was found engaged. Examination of the wreckage reveal that a pitch trim spring in the autopilot pitch servo had failed due to fatigue. Further examination revealed the avionics in the airplane belonged to an airplane that had been reported stolen. There were no records found of any inspections or maintenance being performed on the accident airplane.

On November 29, 1993, about 1749 hours Pacific standard time, a Mooney M20K, N5788U, collided with mountainous terrain about 7 miles west of June Lake, California. The airplane was being operated as a personal flight by the pilot. The airplane was destroyed. The certificated commercial pilot and passenger received fatal injuries. The weather conditions at the accident site at the time of the accident are unknown. The airplane departed the Carson City Airport, Carson City, Nevada, at an unknown time and was destined for Chino, California, where the airplane was based. No flight plan was filed for the accident airplane.

Family members reported the airplane's occupants missing to local law enforcement authorities after they failed to return home. On December 4, 1993, the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was notified of the airplane being missing. The CAP conducted a search for the missing airplane without success.

The airplane was found by a hiker on July 5, 1994, in a saddle several hundred feet west of Blacktop Peak at an elevation of 12,200 feet above mean sea level. According to a Mono County Sheriff's deputy, snow depths of twenty feet deep are common in the saddle during the winter months.

Documents recovered from the airplane by the Mono County Sheriff's Office were dated November 29, 1993. The airplane was last seen at the Carson City Airport on November 29, 1993, about 1500 hours.

The airplane's clock was found stopped at 5:49; the pilot's wrist watch was found stopped at 6:00; and the passenger's watch was found stopped at 12:39. The Mono County Coroner is listing the time of death for the occupants at 1749 hours.

Pilot Information

The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate, which was issued on November 22, 1972, with a single engine airplane rating. The pilot subsequently added a multiengine airplane rating, an airplane instrument rating, and a helicopter rating. The most recent rating was obtained on April 16, 1989, with the addition of a Lear Jet type rating. The pilot was issued a second class medical certificate on July 8, 1993. The medical certificate contained the limitation must wear glasses for near and distant vision.

No personal flight records were located for the pilot, and the aeronautical experience listed in this report was obtained from a review of the airmen Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records on file in the Airman and Medical Records Center located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Also, information was obtained from one of the pilot's former insurance companies.

According to the FAA , the pilot listed total aeronautical experience of about 12,263 hours at the time of his application for a medical certificate. The pilot also indicated his flight time in airplane make and model was in excess of 2,000 hours.

There were no records found delineating the pilot's flight experience at the time of the accident, or the accomplishment of a biennial flight review.

Aircraft information

The airplane was registered as N5788U, serial number 25-0852. The airplane was manufactured on December 21, 1984. No maintenance records were located for the airplane, and no determination of the airplane's total time or maintenance history was discovered.

A Teledyne Continental engine, serial number 309167, was installed in the airframe. According to the engine manufacturer, the engine was shipped to Mooney Aircraft Company on April 8, 1979. Mooney Aircraft Company delivery documents indicate the engine was installed in a Mooney M20K, N231CQ, on June 12, 1979.

Review of aircraft registration and airworthiness records maintained by the FAA Aircraft Registration Branch revealed that the Mooney M20K, N231CQ, was registered to the accident pilot on July 26, 1980, and later reported stolen to AIG Aviation Insurance on July 3, 1982.

Further investigation revealed that 17 out of 18 avionics components manufactured by Allied Signal, Inc., General Aviation Avionics, (formally King Radio) were installed in N231CQ at the time of airframe manufacture. The warranty registration cards for the avionics also indicate they were installed in N231CQ. Review of the aircraft delivery documents also revealed that every serialized flight instrument, engine instrument, and electrical system component was installed in N231CQ.

The airplane had three means of direct navigation installed in or onboard at the time of the accident; a King KNS 80 Area Navigation System, a Morrow II Loran C, and a portable Magellan GPS 5000A.

Additionally, the airplane's emergency locator transmitter battery was dated in 1980. The battery should be replaced every 2 years.

Review of Mooney Aircraft Corporation delivery documents for N5788U indicated the airplane was painted in a three color scheme. The paint colors were called Gray Stone, Black Diamont, and Sky Gray. During a visit to the Chino Airport, Chino, California, a pilot from a neighboring hangar to the accident airplanes, presented to the Safety Board several pieces of sheet metal from a "chopped airplane." The pieces were identified from a Mooney airplane's empennage with portions of the registration number, and pieces containing the oxygen system servicing port. The paint scheme of the pieces matched that of N5788U, to include portions of the registration number.

Meteorological Information

The closest official weather observation station is the Lake Tahoe Airport, South Lake Tahoe, California, which is located 76 nautical miles north of the accident site.

On the day of the accident the National Weather Service at Reno, Nevada, 106 nautical miles northwest of the accident site was forecasting a cold front passing through slowly with winds at 30 knots from the south. By 1030 hours PST rain showers and mountain obscurement was forecasted for the area all day. The area forecast for Reno predicted at the time: 3,700-foot overcast, changing to 2,100-foot overcast in early afternoon and lowering to 1,200-foot overcast later.

Wreckage and impact information

The airplane was found at the 12,200 foot level in a bowl west of Blacktop Peak. The accident area is 2.1 nautical miles west of a 329 nautical-mile-long direct course line from the airplane's departure point in Carson City to its destination in Chino. The location was plotted at North 37-47.49 degrees latitude and west 119-11.89 degrees longitude.

The airplane was painted silver with black and red accent strips on the wing tips and fuselage. The aircraft was found resting in a field of boulders in a run-off area of a snow field located up slope of the wreckage to the north. The airplane was oriented with the nose pointing 160 degrees magnetic. A debris field extends about 1,000 feet north of the fuselage, and south about 500 feet in the run-off area.

The floor of the airplane was crushed upward. The wings remained attached to the fuselage and the empennage and tail flight control surfaces were missing. The landing gear was found retracted in the wheel wells. The landing gear switch was damaged and found in the down position.

The engine was separated from the firewall and held in a displaced position to the left front by the control cables which were still connected. The exhaust system was crushed upward and aft. The oil sump was fractured exposing the internal components of the crankcase for visual inspection.

The left wing had a compression buckle on the leading edge forward of the aileron and a tear on the underside near the fuel tank. The leading edge of the right wing was not damaged. Both wing tips were damaged. Remnants of the both tips were found in the debris field. There was control continuity to both ailerons.

Both wings exhibit hydraulic buckling to the underside. There was no scoring in the paint in the area of the buckles. The flap linkage to the flap panels was found separated. The right flap panel was folded under the wing and the left flap panel was ext