LAX85FA159 · Mooney M-20-E N20E
Mooney M-20-E N20E · Accident: partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure) during initial climb
From L32 · Oceanside, CA to Rohnerville Airport (FOT)
Event
- NTSB case
- LAX85FA159
- 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 M-20-E N20E
- Aircraft type
- Mooney M-20
- 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
- N9325M
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From L32 · Oceanside, CATo Rohnerville Airport (FOT), Fortuna, CA
- 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
- Initial climb
- 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
- Partial loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
- 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
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Destroyed
Cause areas
- Engine assembly, bearing › Blocked(partial)
- Engine assembly, ring › Failure, total
- Ignition system, spark plug › Inoperative
- Lubricating system › Blocked(partial)
- Pilot in command › Judgment, poor
- Pilot in command › Maintenance, service of aircraft/equipment, poor
- Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, intentional
- Pilot in command › Procedures/directives, attempted
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
GND WITNESSES REPORTED THE ACFT ENGINE BEGAN TO MISFIRE SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING RY 24 AT OCEANSIDE MUNI ARPT OCEANSIDE, CA. WHEN THE ACFT REACHED THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RY AT AB OUT 100 FT AGL, THE PLT BEGAN A LEFT TURN. PRIOR TO COMPLETING THE TURN, THE ACFT STALLED A CRASHED INTO A BLDG LOCATED ASOUTH & ADFACENT TO RY 24. BOTH OCCUPANTS ABOARD THE ACFT SUSTAINED FATAL INJURIES. NO PERSONS ON THE GROUND WERE INJURED. THE BLDS WAS SUBSTANTIALLY DAMAGED AND ITS CONTENTS WERE DISTROYED. DISASSEMBLY EXAM OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE NO. 1 CYL SPARK PLUGS WERE NOT FIREING AND THAT THE NO. 3 CYL PISTON COMPRESSION RING WAS BROKEN & THE UPPER SPARK PLUG WAS OIL SOAKED. THE ABSCENCE OF RING PAR- TICLES IN THE OITL FILTER INDICATED THE RING BROKE DURING THE ACCIDENT FLT. SEVERAL CRANKSHAFT & CON ROD BEARINGS SHOWED HIGH TEMP DISTRESS. MOST OF THE OIL PASSAGE HOLES WERE PARTIALLY BLOCKED BY THE BEARINGS. THE CRANKSHAFT WAS PUSHED REARWARD. THE MAINT LOGS REVEAL TWO PRIOR PROP GND CONTACT. THE ENG HAD NOT BEEN OVHLD & HAD ACCUM MORE THAN 1868 HRS.
Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record LAX85FA159
- Event ID
- 20001214X35720
- Case number
- LAX85FA159
- 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: bbc5777e840e23edd7b442d9bc8ee189a828cba48903e12256c309e2f58a81b5; retrieved 2026-09-21T05:08:00.549Z.