Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Moriarty, New Mexico 87035
Thursday, January 10, 2013 10:30 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Before the accident flight, the pilot purchased 30 gallons of aviation gasoline, following which the fuel gauges indicated near half for each tank. During the accident flight, the pilot flew about 12 minutes south of the departure airport with the left fuel tank selected then turned north to return to the airport. About 5 minutes after turning north, the engine went to idle power. The pilot turned the carburetor heat on and activated the boost pump, and the engine returned to normal cruise power. The pilot indicated that, at this point, she should have switched the fuel selector valve to the right fuel tank but did not. The engine operated at cruise power for about 1 minute then quit completely. The pilot reported that because the airplane was about 1,500 feet above ground level and changing the fuel selector valve requires moving the pilot seat back about 18 inches “with no control of the aircraft,” she decided to perform a forced landing on a farm road directly ahead. During the landing, the right wing struck a fence post, and the airplane subsequently came to rest in a plowed field. Both wings sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that the accident was caused by fuel starvation and that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot’s improper fuel management, which resulted in a loss of engine power during cruise flight due to fuel starvation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/10/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Moriarty |
| Event State | NEW MEXICO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 87035 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 345856N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1060018W |
| 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 | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1035 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | 0E0 |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6199 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | K0E0 101735Z AUTO 00000KT 10SM CLR 03/M10 A3001 |
| 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) | 31022 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 12 2013 3:00PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6242U |
| NTSB Number | CEN13CA134 |
| 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 | M20C |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2081 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2575 |
| 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 17 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 5500 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Pilot |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | SANTA FE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NM |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 87508 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Pilot |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | SANTA FE |
| Operator State | NM |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 87508 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | 0E0 |
| Departure City | Moriarty |
| Departure State | NM |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1000 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Moriarty |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 27 2013 11:46AM |
| User who most recently changed record | coln |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |