Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Norwood, Colorado 81423
Sunday, March 20, 2005 12:00 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

While descending, the airplane's engine started "missing" and began to lose power. Unable to maintain altitude, the pilot declared an emergency and executed a forced landing to a field. During the landing, the nose landing gear collapsed and the outboard 4 feet of the left wing was bent upward. Examination of the engine revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal engine operation. The reason for the reported partial loss of engine power was not determined.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the reported partial loss of engine power for undetermined reasons. A contributing factor was the lack of suitable terrain for the forced landing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/20/2005
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1200
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Norwood
Event State COLORADO
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 81423
Event Date Year 2005
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 380904N
Event Location Longitude 1081618W
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 20
Degrees magnetic from airport 110
Airport Elevation 9078
Weather Briefing Completeness Full
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1229 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 110
Weather Observation Facility ID KTEX
Elevation of weather observation facility 9078
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 700
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 300
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 1.25
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -4
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 0
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 0
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.78
Density Altitude (feet) 9681
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 18447
NTSB Notification Source FAA Comm Ctr
NTSB Notification Date Mar 20 2005 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1454
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Oct 27 2005 6:51AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\JOHB
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Salt Lake City FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number XB-FRU
NTSB Number DEN05LA063
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 M20F
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 22-0050
Certified Max Gross Weight 2740
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 Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Tomas Ortega
Aircraft Owner Street Address Santiago No. 258
Aircraft Owner City San Jeronimo
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country MX
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 10200
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 LBB
Departure City Lubbock
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 810
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code TEX
Destination City Telluride
Destination State CO
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Emergency landing
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2005 1:13PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
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 --