ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 89779
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| Date: | Saturday 29 January 2011 |
| Time: | 00:00 |
| Type: |  Mooney M20J |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | N50BJ |
| MSN: | 24-0657 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1978 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 1713 hours |
| Engine model: | Lycoming IO-360 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Death Valley, California -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Furnace Creek, CA (L06) |
| Santa Monica, CA (SMO) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A witness reported observing the airplane take off to the south and stated that the ground operations and takeoff appeared to be normal. The wreckage was located 2 days later on a flat, dry salt lake bed 7 miles south of the departure airport. The surface of the ground was deep jagged salt deposits, with crevasses between 6 and 18 inches deep, and unsuitable for making a successful off-field landing.
During the postaccident engine examination, the single-drive dual magneto was found mounted on the accessory pad and could be easily rotated by hand. The magneto had sustained no apparent impact damage and remained in good condition externally. Further examination of the attachment hardware found all required mounting studs, lock washers, and respective nuts to be in place and undamaged. The magneto clamps, respective magneto flange, and the accessory case interface areas exhibited wear signatures consistent with fretting, which suggested that the clamps were not securely fastened. These signatures were most prominent on the lower clamps and flange area. The magneto flange remained intact and revealed no evidence of cracking. It is likely that this could have produced a partial power loss, which led to the pilot’s decision to make an off-airport landing. No other mechanical failures or malfunctions were found that would have precluded normal operation. The airplane had accumulated about 10 hours since the last annual inspection. No maintenance records were located to determine if further maintenance had been performed on the engine since the inspection 5 months prior to the accident.
Probable Cause: The magneto clamps were not securely fastened to the mount, which led to a partial loss of engine power and a subsequent forced landing on unsuitable terrain.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://www.faa.gov/data_research/accident_incident/preliminary_data/events01/media/02_50BJ.txt
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N50BJ/history/20110129/1918Z/SC1/L06
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000272743L.html
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 01-Feb-2011 20:27 | bizjets101 | Added |
| 04-Feb-2011 03:34 | bulrich | Updated [Time, Phase, Narrative] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:25 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 26-Nov-2017 18:45 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Operator, Other fatalities, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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