- Date
- April 8, 1989, 08:00 local (13:00 UTC)
- Place
- Lake Elmo, MN
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9424VMooney M20E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report January 31, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890408006959A
- Case key
- 34776
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
Fuel tank selector improperly positioned, emergency procedure improperly performed by the pilot, and fuel starvation.
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
Shortly after departure for a personal cross county flight, the plt noticed a loss of fuel pressure. He switched on the auxiliary fuel pump which failed to restore fuel pressure. He turned to return to the airport, when the engine failed. An emergency landing was attempted on a soft, muddy farm field resulting in substantial damage to the airplane. Post accident investigation revealed the fuel selector to be on the right hand tank, in which there was no visable fuel. The acft was out of annual inspection.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9424V
- Reported as
- Mooney M20E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 700026
- Airframe hours
- 2,766
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A1A, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Douglas S. Hurinenko
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 19, 1987 · 284 hours before
- Departed
- 21D · Lake Elmo, MN
- Destination
- FAR · Fargo, ND
- Airport
- 21D · Lake Elmo, runway 31, 2,850 × 75 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
- 24
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 227 total · 109 in this make and model · 164 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 350° at 17 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 25 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MSP, 10 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.