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| Date: | Wednesday 3 January 2024 |
| Time: | 12:26 |
| Type: |  Mooney M20K 231 |
| Owner/operator: | Ellis Aviation LLC |
| Registration: | N231GG |
| MSN: | 25-0171 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1979 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Tullahoma Regional Airport (THA/KTHA), Tullahoma, TN -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Tullahoma-Northern Airport, TN (THA/KTHA) |
| Sewanee-Franklin County Airport, TN (UOS/KUOS) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On January 3, 2024, about 1226 central standard time, a Mooney M20K, N231GG, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Tullahoma, Tennessee. The commercial pilot was not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
Shortly after takeoff, during a cruise climb about 2,000 ft above ground level, the engine suddenly lost all power without any warning. The pilot attempted to glide the airplane back to the departure airport and restart the engine; however, the engine did not restart and the airplane impacted hilly terrain about 1/2-mile before reaching the runway.
The engine’s most recent overhaul was about 30 years before the accident, and it accrued about 692 hours during that time. Additionally, the airplane had not been flown for more than 2 years before the accident flight. The pilot did not purchase fuel and the age of the fuel in the airplane could not be determined. During wreckage recovery, about 16 gallons of fuel (8 gallons per side) were drained from the airplane’s fuel tanks. The fuel was blue, clear, and consistent with 100LL aviation gasoline. No visible contamination was observed. Subsequent examination of the engine did not reveal any anomalies, with the exception of an inoperative right magneto; however, that did not explain a total loss of engine power without any engine roughness.
Probable Cause: A total loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=193598
https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N231GG
https://www.airport-data.com/images/aircraft/000/538/538645.jpg (photo)
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 04-Jan-2024 18:38 | Captain Adam | Added |
| 06-Jan-2024 09:30 | gianniprof | Updated [Date, ] |
| 06-Jan-2024 10:38 | RobertMB | Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Narrative, ] |
| 27-Jan-2024 10:43 | Captain Adam | Updated [Time, Location, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, Accident report, ] |
| 06-Jan-2025 19:15 | Captain Adam | Updated [Phase, Source, Narrative, ] |
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