LAX99FA275 · Mooney M20E
Mooney M20E · Accident: loss of control in flight on approach
From Reno Tahoe International Airport (RNO) to North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX99FA275
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 2 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- 0
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Mooney M20E
- Aircraft type
- Mooney M20
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N2654W
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Reno Tahoe International Airport (RNO), Reno, NVTo North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Approach · VFR pattern downwind
- First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Stall; Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Aircraft control, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Airspeed(vso), not maintained
- Pilot in command › Maneuver, initiated
- Pilot in command › Stall, encountered
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airplane was in the landing pattern when it rolled and exhibited exaggerated wing rocking then descended until it collided with a tree and a residence. The pilot sequenced for runway 12, but tower personnel thought the pilot was positioning for runway 7. They informed him to follow traffic ahead on final for runway 12 and suggested that he turn to a heading of 300 degrees. The pilot replied "Wilco" and they heard no other transmissions from the airplane. The controller looked away; when he looked back he saw exaggerated wing rocking as the airplane descended. Witnesses on the ground reported the airplane rolled and reported exaggerated wing rocking. This was followed by an explosion and fireball at ground impact. The passenger in the right front seat stated everything was fine until the pilot executed a steep left bank. He heard the pilot express concern vocally and noticed he was having difficulty controlling the airplane. He stated all three occupants survived the impact sequence. The left side of the airplane ripped open and flames were coming in that side. He saw the pilot trying to unfasten his seat belt and heard the passenger in the rear seat tell him to hurry and get out. He was able to exit the airplane and sustained burns on his legs, arms, and face. The passenger in the rear seat had luggage wedged between her legs and the front seat, which hindered her escape.
Probable cause
The pilot's steep turn at low altitude that resulted in an accelerated stall while in the landing configuration, leading to a loss of control and subsequent ground impact.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX99FA275
- Event ID
- 20001212X19551
- Case number
- LAX99FA275
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 447e49ea45e7a17c61c982e7d9a5eea86c9f0013f7bfee0f83ee8f2248d60d6a; retrieved 2026-09-20T21:51:58.277Z.