ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 163560
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| Date: | Sunday 26 January 2014 |
| Time: | 13:45 |
| Type: |  Mooney M20C Ranger |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N6762U |
| MSN: | 2484 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1963 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 2091 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming O-360-A1D |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | East of Rutherford County Airport (KFQD), Rutherfordton, NC -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Atlanta, GA (FTY) |
| Hickory, NC (HKY) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
According to the pilot, he checked the fuel gauges in the airplane before departing on a cross country flight. He stated that the left fuel gauge indicated 1/2 tank and the right fuel gauge indicated 1/4 tank. The pilot did not visually check the fuel quantity in the tanks and did not take on any additional fuel. Approximately 60 nautical miles (NM) from his destination, he switched from the left fuel tank to the right fuel tank. The engine began to "stutter" and he switched back to the left fuel tank and the engine resumed normal operation. He located the nearest airport which was 10 NM from his location and made a turn towards it. Shortly thereafter, the engine began to "stutter" again and the pilot shut the engine down and made an emergency landing in a field. During the emergency landing, the airplane collided with trees, and sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. Examination of the fuel system revealed that the fuel tanks were not breached, and the left and right fuel tanks contained less than 1 gallon of fuel in each. A review of the pilot operating handbook (POH) revealed that each fuel tank held 26 gallons of fuel, for a total of 52 gallons. The POH stated that there is 48 gallons of usable fuel, which left 4 gallons of fuel unusable. The POH also revealed that the fuel tanks should be visually checked before flight.
Probable Cause: The pilot's inadequate pre-flight planning and in-flight monitoring of the fuel level which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
FAA register: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=6762U
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Jan-2014 07:53 | Geno | Added |
| 27-Jan-2014 07:53 | Geno | Updated [Source] |
| 27-Jan-2014 17:51 | Geno | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 28-Jan-2014 19:49 | Geno | Updated [Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 01-Apr-2014 22:09 | Geno | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:28 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 29-Nov-2017 13:22 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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