Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Trinity Center Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Trinity Center, California 96091
Thursday, September 11, 2008 17:45 PST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
At an undetermined point in time, the bracket that supported the fuel flow transducer for the airplane’s fuel monitoring system failed. This allowed the transducer to vibrate, and ultimately lead to the loosening of the B-nut on the fuel line leading to the transducer. Because the B-nut became almost completely disconnected from the transducer, approximately 40 gallons of fuel was lost overboard during the flight. Because the leak was upstream of the transducer, the fuel management system did not detect or display the loss of fuel, and the engine ultimately lost power due to fuel exhaustion. The pilot executed a forced landing at a non-controlled airport, but intentionally exited the side of the runway surface when it appeared that the airplane could not stop prior to departing the end of the runway and encountering a steep drop-off. After the airplane exited the side of the runway, it entered rough terrain and experienced a collapse of the left main landing gear. The collapse of the gear resulted in substantial damage to both the left wing and the aft fuselage.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The complete loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion as a result of a leak in the fuel system. Contributing to the accident was the rough terrain the airplane encountered during the forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/11/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1745 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Standard Time |
| Event City | Trinity Center |
| Event State | CALIFORNIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 96091 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 405858n |
| Event Location Longitude | 1224137w |
| Event Location Airport | Trinity Center |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | O86 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 2390 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 340 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.84 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24530 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2008 3:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ricj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N1157K |
| NTSB Number | SEA08CA202 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | MOONEY AIRCRAFT CORP. |
| Aircraft Model | M20K |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 25-0644 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 5 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 3005 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MOORE WALTER C |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5115 RIPLEY LN N |
| Aircraft Owner City | RENTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98056-1504 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Wings Aloft |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Redmond |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98053 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | KBUR |
| Departure City | Burbank |
| Departure State | CA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1435 |
| Departure Time Zone | PST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | KMFR |
| Destination City | Medford |
| Destination State | OR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 22 2008 3:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | ricj |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3215 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |