Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Placerville, California 95667
Friday, June 7, 2002 18:12 PDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

About 6 miles from the pilot's home airport, all engine power was lost. The airplane impacted trees during its approach to a landing. A witness reported observing the airplane glide in very quietly with its propeller barely turning "as if only from the wind." The witness indicated that the airplane "skipped off the ground once, as if trying to land, and then lifted back into the air again." Thereafter, the airplane came back down and crashed into a grove of trees. The accident site was about 6 miles from the pilot's destination airport. No evidence of fuel spillage was noted on the ground around the crashed airplane. Between 10 and 15 drops of fuel were found in fuel lines. No evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunctions was observed during the engine examination.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

A loss of engine power due to the pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision which led to fuel exhaustion.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/7/2002
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1812
Event Time Zone Pacific Daylight Time
Event City Placerville
Event State CALIFORNIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 95667
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 384217N
Event Location Longitude 1203858W
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1845 Pacific Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 236
Weather Observation Facility ID MHR
Elevation of weather observation facility 96
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 32
Time Zone of the weather observation PDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 11
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.68
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15908
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jun 7 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1830
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 29 2004 7:30AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office WP-SAC-FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N1285X
NTSB Number LAX02LA187
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Mooney
Aircraft Model M20E
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 158
Certified Max Gross Weight 2575
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Donald A. Rogers
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Diamond Springs
Aircraft Owner State CA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 95619
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code O57
Departure City BRIDGEPORT
Departure State CA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone PDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PVF
Destination City PLACERVILLE
Destination State CA
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Unknown
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 17 2004 6:19PM
User who most recently changed record COOS
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --