ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 273736
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| Date: | Friday 31 December 2021 |
| Time: | 13:30 |
| Type: |  Mooney M20C Ranger |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N6796N |
| MSN: | 680099 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1968 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Marana, AZ -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Marana Regional Airport, AZ (AVW/KAVQ) |
| French Valley Airport, CA (F70) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On December 31, 2021, about 1330 mountain standard time, a Mooney M20C, N6796N, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Marana, Arizona. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
The non-instrument-rated pilot departed into visual meteorological conditions (VMC) on a day cross-country flight. Concerned family members contacted flight service when the pilot was overdue at the destination airport. The wreckage was located 4 days later in dessert terrain about 56 miles from the departure airport.
Flight track data indicated that after departure the airplaneproceeded northwest toward the destination airport before it turned to the southwest. The airplane continued to the southwest, where it made a series of turns until radar contact was lost.
Review of weather information near the accident location at the time of the accident indicated instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), including low ceilings and visibility, were most likely present at the time of the accident. It is unknown if the pilot obtained a preflight weather briefing.
All major structural components of the airplane were located within the wreckage path. Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preexisting anomalies that would have precluded normal operation.
Postmortem toxicology testing revealed varying levels of methamphetamine in the pilot’s liver and muscle tissue. The methamphetamine levels detected are consistent with the pilot’s use of methamphetamine before the flight. It is likely that the psychoactive effects from the pilot’s use of methamphetamine contributed to his decision to fly into conditions that he was not trained for.
The non-instrument-rated pilot’s flight into IMC would have made airplane control by visual references difficult, especially while maneuvering. When there were no outside visual references, pilots must rely on use of flight instruments to understand their position in space.
Based on the postaccident flight track data, the pilot made a series of turns that were inconsistent with his intended flight path and were likely the result of the pilot experiencing spatial disorientation. It is likely the pilot did not reference the flight instruments or was experiencing an increase in workload because of spatial disorientation, and did not recover the airplane from its descent.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s loss of airplane control due to spatial disorientation after entering instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s impairment due to use of methamphetamine before the flight.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.kold.com/2022/01/04/plane-crashes-southern-arizona/
https://www.cap.news/cooperation-tenacity-technology-first-2022-mission-leads-to-arizona-crash-site-find/
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=104482
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=6796N
Location
Images:
Photo: NTSB
Media:
NTSB investigating the 1/3/22 crash of a Mooney M20C airplane in Marana, Arizona.
— NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) January 4, 2022
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Jan-2022 07:37 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 04-Jan-2022 08:32 | RobertMB | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 04-Jan-2022 13:11 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Registration, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 04-Jan-2022 13:31 | Captain Adam | Updated [Date] |
| 04-Jan-2022 13:32 | johnwg | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 04-Jan-2022 13:34 | johnwg | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Jan-2022 18:56 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 06-Jan-2022 15:49 | johnwg | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category] |
| 21-Jan-2022 18:54 | aaronwk | Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category] |
| 05-Apr-2022 15:17 | Captain Adam | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 15-Dec-2023 17:42 | Captain Adam | Updated [Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Accident report, Photo] |
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