Mooney M20J accident near Kansas City, MO
On August 18, 2013, a Mooney M20J (airplane) was involved in an accident near Kansas City, MO. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- August 18, 2013
- Place
- Kansas City, MO
- Aircraft
- Mooney M20J · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 39.151°N, 94.579°W
- NTSB ID
- 20130819X52423
Official records · CEN13FA496
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- ATC Package Excerpt: Document (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 18, 2013, about 1448 central daylight time, a Mooney M20J, N9201R, descended and impacted terrain after takeoff from Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport (MKC), Kansas City, Missouri. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The private pilot and a passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Air McRoyal, LLC and operated by the pilot under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and was en route to Youngstown, Ohio. On August 15, 2013, the personal flight originated from Youngstown, Ohio and arrived at MKC. The airplane was parked on a ramp in front of a fixed base operator (FBO) at MKC. The president and owner of a general aviation consultant, sales, and refurbishment firm, stated that a text message from the pilot was received on August 16, 2013. The provided text message stated: "Hey… . Just an update. ... Landed kmkc yesterday from kyng. Ran really well. Total trip time was 4:30. Not too bad. Better than spending 8 hrs in airports." On the day of the accident, the airplane was taxied from the ramp to the airport self-serve fuel pump and 25.25 gallons of 100 low lead aviation fuel was obtained. An airplane mechanic at the FBO stated that he heard the airplane engine run-up and takeoff. The run-up was "short" and was "less than a minute." He did not hear any engine power hesitations during the run-up, just a "quick"
Probable cause
The pilot's improper decision to attempt continued flight after a momentary loss of engine power with usable runway remaining. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's premature retraction of the landing gear, the loss of engine power due to fuel system water contamination, and the pilot's failure to detect the fuel contamination during the preflight inspection.
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Browse: Missouri · Mooney aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
