Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB CEN15FA030
MOONEY M20 — Boulder, CO
| Date | October 27, 2014 |
| Location | Boulder, CO |
| Aircraft | MOONEY M20 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 35 |
| Pilot total time | 3,438 hrs · High time |
| Time in type | 10 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Not determined-Not determined-(general)-(general)-Unknown/Not determined - C
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Light condition-Bright light-Effect on personnel
What happened
Witnesses reported that, just after takeoff, the airplane rolled left to an inverted position and impacted terrain. One witness reported hearing abnormal engine sounds just before the impact, but other witnesses did not recall hearing anything abnormal. The pilot was departing to the east with a direct crosswind, and the sun was most likely in the pilot's eyes, but it could not be determined what effect this would have on the pilot's control of the airplane. The throttle, mixture, and propeller controls were found in the full power, rich mixture, and high rpm positions, respectively. However, the propeller blade signatures were consistent with the engine operating at a low power setting. A trace amount of water was found in the fuel divider; however, this could have come from post-accident firefighting measures. Due to impact and postcrash fire damage, fuel from the fuel tanks and lines was not available for examination, and the damage also precluded a functional test of the engine and related systems. The investigation could not determine if the engine lost power before the airplane rolled inverted.